What is an Administrator or a Grant of Administration?

When someone dies without a Will, or if there is a Will but no Executor is able to act, then an Administrator needs to be appointed. An Administrator has the same role as an Executor but is not appointed by a Will. The Administrator could be a family member, a Beneficiary, or a third party such as a lawyer (I provide that service as well) or trust company.

The Administrator is appointed by the court through a process very similar to the Probate process (see “What is the Probate process?” below).