Letter of administration (also known as LA) in Nigeria is the legal authority granted by the Probate Court to a person called the administrator or administratrix to administer the estate or property of a person who died intestate. A person is said to have died intestate when he dies without leaving behind a valid Will. A letter of administration is therefore an official court document that proves you have the authority to deal with someone’s estate. Once the document has been issued, you’ll be able to act as the administrator of the estate, allowing you to close bank accounts, sell a property and distribute assets to beneficiaries. Sometimes a deceased person leaves behind in his/her bank account a substantial amount of money and for the family to have access to the money, a letter of administration is required from the relatives of the deceased person by the bank.
There are some people who the law allow to apply for a letter of administration, these persons are generally called NEXT-OF-KIN of the deceased. They are in the following hierarchy:
a. Surviving spouse(s) of the deceased.
b. Children of the deceased.
c. Parents of the deceased.
d. Brothers or sisters of the deceased of full blood or the children of such brother or sister who died in the lifetime of the deceased.
e. Brother or sister of the deceased of half-blood or the children of such brother or sister who died in the lifetime of the deceased.
f. Grandparents of the deceased.
g. Uncles and aunts of full blood or their children.
Letter of administration is granted upon application by a person entitled either personally or through his legal practitioner to the Probate registrar. It must be noted that letters of administration cannot be transferred or inherited (this means that only the person whose name appears on the letter of the administration can directly act on the estate or property of the deceased).
Furthermore, one person cannot be granted letters of administration. It can only be granted to at least two people. Some of the information needed for the application of the letter of administration is the Full names of the deceased, date of death of the deceased, Name of proposed administrators or administratrix to administer the estate or property of a person who died without a will etc.

HOW TO GET A LETTER OF ADMINISTRATION

To get a grant of letters of administration, you need to apply to the probate registry. You can do this yourself if you’re confident handling the paperwork. But if you’re concerned about getting things moving as quickly as possible, you may be better off using a probate solicitor.
Here are the key steps to getting a grant of letters of administration:
i. Speak to a probate specialist to discuss the value and details of your loved one’s estate.
ii. Your probate application/form is then prepared and sent to you to be filled and signed.
iii. The application is then submitted to the probate registry for approval.
iv. The probate register will then call on you for an interview to make sure they are not issuing the letter to the wrong person
v. Once your application has been approved, your grant of letters of administration will be granted to you.

The above information is not a substitute for professional legal advice. This does not create a lawyer-client relationship, nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice. If you need legal advice, please send a direct message to jideade99@gmail.com.