Grant of Administration - No Will or Insufficient Will
Neufeld Legal P.C. can be reached by telephone at 403-400-4092 or email Chris@NeufeldLegal.com
Probate and administration can be exceedingly challenging undertaking for any individual who has lost a dearly departed member of their family (be it a spouse, parent or other relative), such that tackling the legal requirements set forth in the law and by the courts can prove exceedingly daunting. It is at such times that you should be looking for the assistance of a capable probate lawyer to navigate you through the process, whether as the executor / trustee or as a beneficiary, such that the deceased's estate is properly administered and you are legally protected through this process. For the last thing that anyone wants is to be caught up in an entirely new legal mess that is the result of not seeking out appropriate legal representation and direction.
What is a Grant of Administration?
A Grant of Administration (or Letter of Administration) is a court order that which is required in the absence of a valid will that names a capable personal representative and distributes all the assets of the decedent, wherein the Grant names a willing and capable applicant to act as the personal representative and to proceed with a plan to distribute the decedent’s assets, which proceeds in accordance with the jurisdiction’s applicable statutes for intestacy.
I. Grant of Administration
The fundamental Grant of Administration authorizes the applicant to deal with estate property of the decedent when:
• there is no Will, or
• the Will is not valid, and the Court has not declared the Will to be valid (if the Court declares an invalid Will to be valid, the Court issues a grant of probate instead)
There is a list of people who can apply for a Grant of Administration, in order of priority. The applicant must apply for a Grant of Administration where there is either no Will or the Will is not valid unless all the property owned by the deceased does not form part of their estate. No one has authority to deal with the deceased person’s estate until the Court issues a grant of administration authorizing a named Personal Representative to act.
The Personal Representative must distribute the estate to the people who inherit the estate of an intestate person, as set out in the governing legislation, which in Alberta is the Wills and Succession Act. With the Grant of Administration, the Personal Representative is legally authorized by the Surrogate Division of the Court to deal with the deceased person’s property and administer/distribute the deceased person’s estate in accordance with the procedural steps put forth by the Personal Representative and in strict compliance with the governing laws of intestacy (in Alberta, the Wills and Succession Act).
II. Grant of Administration with Will Annexed
A Grant of Administration with Will Annexed operates in much the same way as a Grant of Probate, with the additional step of appointing an Executor /Personal Representative to manage the estate according to the Will. This particular Grant is necessary where the Will itself is legally valid, but the Will:
• does not name an Executor/Personal Representative, or
• names an Executor/Personal Representative but they are not willing or able to act and no other Executor/Personal Representative is named or willing or able to act, or
• does not deal with all the deceased’s estate (in such circumstances, the Court grants a Grant of Probate to deal with estate property under the Will and a Grant of Administration with Will Annexed to deal with estate property not included in the Will)
The Executor/Personal Representative must apply for a grant in the above situations unless all the property owned by the deceased does not form part of their estate. (For example, the property is owned in joint tenancy or designates beneficiaries.) No one has authority to deal with the deceased’s estate not covered by the Will until the court issues a grant of administration with will annexed.
Contact our law firm today to learn how our legal team can help you with the legal demands following the death of a loved one, from probating the decedent's last will & testament to administering an estate where the decedent did not have a valid will. Contact our law firm at 403-400-4092 or via email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com to schedule a confidential initial consultation.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This website is designed for general informational purposes. The site is not designed to answer specific questions about your individual situation or entitlement. Do not rely upon the information provided on this website as legal advice in respect of your individual situation nor use it as substitute for individual legal advice. If you want specific legal advice, you need to engage a lawyer under established legal engagement procedures that have been specifically agreed to by that lawyer.