Administration (probate law)

Estate settlement is the legal and administrative process that happens after a person passes away. Settling an estate means managing and distributing assets, debts, taxes, and following legal and financial obligations following a person's death. If there is a will, the estate needs to go through probate. If there is no will. the court will decide how assets will be distributed. This process includes identifying, and valuing the decedent's assets, paying debts, taxes, and transferring the remaining property to heirs or beneficiaries according to state or national law. The estate settlement process typically takes between 12 and 18 months, depending on the estate's size, complexity and if there are existing disputes. ==Letter of administration==

English law Upon the death of a person intestate, or of one who left a will without appointing executors, or when the executors appointed by the will cannot or will not act, the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice or the local District Probate Registry will appoint an administrator who performs similar duties to an executor. The court does this by granting letters of administration to the person so entitled. Grants of administration may be either general (where the deceased has died intestate) or limited. The order in which the court will make general grants of letters follows the sequence: • The surviving spouse, or civil partner, as the case may be; • The next of kin; • The Crown; • A creditor; • A stranger. Under the rules for distribution of estates without a will (the Intestacy Rules), where a child under 18 would inherit or a life interest would arise, the Court or District Probate Registry normally appoints a minimum of two administrators. On some estates, even under an intestate, it is not clear who are the next-of-kin, and probate research may be required to find the entitled beneficiaries. An administrator (sometimes known as the administratrix, if female) acts as the personal representative of the deceased in relation to land and other property in the UK. Consequently, when the estate under administration consists wholly or mainly of land, the court will grant administration to the heir to the exclusion of the next of kin. In the absence of any heir or next of kin, the Crown has the right to property (other than land) as bona vacantia, and to the land by virtue of the historic land rights of the Crown (and the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancaster in their respective areas). If a creditor claims and obtains a Grant of Administration, the court compels him or her to enter into a bond with two or more sureties that he or she will not prefer his or her debt to those of other creditors. ==Other types of letters of administration==

The more important cases of grants of special letters of administration include the following: • Administration cum testamento annexo, where the deceased has left a will but has appointed no executor to it, or the executor appointed has died or refuses to act. In this case the court will make the grant to the person, usually the residuary legatee, with the largest beneficial interest in the estate. • Administration de bonis non administratis occurs in two cases: • Where the executor dies intestate after probate without having completely administered the estate • Where an administrator dies. In the first case the principle of administration cum testamento is followed, in the second that of general grants in the selection of the person to whom letters are granted. • Administration durante minore aetate, when the executor or the person entitled to the general grant is under age. • Administration durante absentia, when the executor or administrator is out of the jurisdiction for more than a year. • Administration pendente lite, where there is a dispute as to the person entitled to probate or a general grant of letters the court appoints an administrator till the question has been decided. ==See also==