Limited and Unusual Grants of Representation

Overview

It is sometimes necessary for an executor or administrator to obtain a limited grant of representation, for example, where the executor or administrator has to urgently deal with an estate asset and cannot wait for a general grant of representation, where a grant is required for the purpose of representing an estate in litigation or where an executor or administrator goes missing, is incapacitated or is a minor.

Unlike a full grant of representation, a limited grant of representation usually provides an administrator with restricted powers to act on behalf of an estate for a specific purpose or for a specific time.

Applications to obtain a limited grant require more detail and more documentation to be completed than the normal application for a full grant of probate or grant of letters of administration. The application will be quite different in every case, so it is important that all relevant matters are addressed.

Hartwell Legal assists its clients to prepare the application for a limited grant in a swift manner and also assists with the specific matter that the grant was obtained for. It may be that you do not know if a limited grant or a full grant is required, or what limited grant is to be applied for, if this is the case, please get in touch with us.

Types of Letters of Administration

  • Letters of Administration ad colligendum bona allows a person to collect, preserve and protect assets of a precarious or perishable nature where there is an unavoidable delay in the Court in making a general grant of representation. The purpose of this limited grant is to give authority to a person to take steps to protect the risks of assets of the estate.

    An example of this is where the deceased had signed a contract of sale and died before the settlement. To avoid a breach of the contract of sale, an application for administration ad colligendum bona can be made to allow that person to affect the settlement.

    Hartwell Legal assists with the detailed application for a Letters of Administration ad colligendum bona to be granted and to minimise the chance of any loss being incurred by the estate due to no grant of representation being made in time.

  • An application for letters of administration pendente lite may be made where there are legal proceedings on foot in relation to the validity of the Will or where revocation of a grant of legal representation is pending. Litigation usually prevents the estate from being administered, but when granted letters of administration pendente lite administrators are permitted to call in and liquidate estate assets and preserve these until the proceedings have been resolved. This grant is only in effect for the specific period of the litigation and will cease to have effect when the litigation has ended.

  • Where an estate requires a representative to defend, commence or prosecute legal proceedings, a person can apply for a grant of administration ad litem. Once granted, the grant lasts for the duration of the legal proceedings. A need for such a limited grant may arise where a proceeding is already on foot and there is not enough time to obtain a full grant.

    Other, less common limited grants that Hartwell Legal assists with include:

    • Letters of Administration de bonis non: granted where an executor or administrator dies or goes missing prior to administering an estate and a replacement is required

    • Letters of Administration durante minore aetate: granted where an executor is under 18 and a person is needed to step in until the nominated executor turns 18

    • Letters of administration durante absentia: granted where an executor or administrator resides outside the jurisdiction of the estate (in certain circumstances)

    • Letters of administration durante dementia: granted where an executor or administrator does not have the capacity to carry out the administration of the estate

Get Started Today

Please contact us to discuss your application for a limited grant. We would be delighted to walk you through the steps to be taken to obtain the grant and guide you through your role and obligations.

Curious about the cost? View our Fee Schedule.

Also, see the Deceased Estates page for more information.