The Supreme Court grants letters of administration authorising a person to administer an estate. Once granted, this operates in the same way as a grant of probate (see separate tab). The Court will grant probate to the person nominated as executor by the will maker. However, there may be no will or the named executor may not be capable of acting as the executor due to reasons of ill health, mental capacity or otherwise.
An administrator is appointed by the Supreme Court pursuant to its statutory power found in the Probate & Administration Act, 1898. The role, responsibilities and duties of executors and administrators are the same. The main difference is how they were granted the role of administering the estate.