How does a person get appointed as an Administrator of an Estate.?

Question

My brothers and sisters and I are in the process of selling our mom's house this month we got a whooping bill from the mortgage company charging us extra for house insurance. We have house insurance but because it does not have my mother's name on it (an ugly technically) the mortgage company says they don't have to acknowledge the insurance (Allstate by the way) that we have. Therefore they are charging us three times what we are paying for their insurance. In the meantime they said they will only talk to the administrator of the estate...so now how do we go about doing that. Is there a way to do it pro se in Illinois Cook County. Where do we go?

Answer 1

Two ways - the will of the deceased party will usually specify who is the executor - aka, administrator. If the will does not specify it, or if there is no will, you have to file through probate court to have someone appointed executor - aka, administrator.

Why doesn't the Allstate policy have your mother's name on it? The policy only covers the named party up to their interest in the policy - so if the property is TITLED to her name, and the insurance is "fred smith", then if the house burns to the ground, Allstate has NO obligation to pay, as Fred's name isn't on the title. The policy SHOULD be written "The Estate of Mary Gray" or whatever. Go to your Allstate agent, ask them to fix the name, RETROACTIVELY, so they can send a copy to the mortgage company.

You could also add The Estate of Mary Gray as an additional insured party, but it's not the best way to do it.

Is someone living in the house right now, or is it vacant? If it's on a homeowners policy, you're going to have a problem - as the titled owner is CLEARLY not living in the house. You're probably going to have to move it to a rental policy, or vacant house policy - which will cost more, but still be cheaper.

You really need to sit down with your agent and get this straightened out. If the place burns tomorrow, there won't be anything to sell.

Answer 2

Where a person dies leaving a will appointing an executor, and that executor validly disposes of the property of the deceased within England and Wales, then the estate will go to probate. However, if no will is left, or the will is invalid or incomplete in some way, then administrators must be appointed. They perform a similar role to the executor of a will but, where there are no instructions in a will, the administrators must distribute the estate of the deceased according to the rules laid down by statute and the common law.

Certain property falls outside the estate for administration purposes, the most common example probably being houses jointly owned that pass by survivorship on the first death of a couple into the sole name of the survivor. Other examples include discretionary death benefits from pension funds, accounts with certain financial institutions subject to a nomination and the proceeds of life insurance policies which have been written into trust. Trust property will also frequently fall outside of the estate but this will depend on the terms of the trust.

Since the Land Transfer Act of 1897, the administrator acts as the personal representative of the deceased in relation to land and other property. Consequently, when the estate under administration consists wholly or mainly of land, the court will grant administration to the heir to the exclusion of the next of kin. In the absence of any heir or next of kin, the Crown has the right to property (other than land) as bona vacantia, and to the land by virtue of the historic land rights of the Crown (and the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancashire in their respective areas). If a creditor claims and obtains a Grant of Administration, the court compels him or her to enter into a bond with two sureties that he or she will not prefer his or her own debt to those of other creditors.

Letter of administration: Upon the death of a person intestate, or leaving a will without appointing executors, or when the executors appointed by the will cannot or will not act, the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice or the local District Probate Registry will appoint an administrator who performs similar duties to an executor. The court does this by granting letters of administration to the person so entitled. Grants of administration may be either general or limited. A general grant occurs where the deceased has died intestate. The order in which the court will make general grants of letters follows the sequence:

1. The husband, or widow, as the case may be;
2. the next of kin;
3. the crown;
4. a creditor;
5. a stranger.

Where, under the rules for distribution of estates without a will (the Intestacy Rules), a child under 18 would inherit or a life interest would arise, then the Court or District Probate Registry would normally appoint a minimum of two administrators. On some estates, even under an intestacy, it is not clear who are the next-of-kin, and probate research may be required to find the entitled beneficiaries.

The more important cases of grants of special letters of administration include the following:

Administration *** testamento annexo, where the deceased has left a will but has appointed no executor to it, or the executor appointed has died or refuses to act. In this case the court will make the grant to the person, usually the residuary legatee, with the largest beneficial interest in the estate.

Administration de bonis non administratis occurs in two cases:

1. Where the executor dies intestate after probate without having completely administered the estate
2. Where an administrator dies.

In the first case the principle of administration *** testamento is followed, in the second that of general grants in the selection of the person to whom letters are granted.

* Administration durante minore aetate, when the executor or the person entitled to the general grant is under age.

* Administration durante absentia, when the executor or administrator is out of the jurisdiction for more than a year.

* Administration pendente lite, where there is a dispute as to the person entitled to probate or a general grant of letters the court appoints an administrator till the question has been decided.

See more on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administration

Answer 3

In answer to your question, generally you appoint your executor/executrix in your will -- the person that will be in charge of handling the details of the will. If your mother had a legal, notarized copy of will, then it should state in that document who is in charge. If she didn't have a will or it's not stated, then the estate needs to go to probate. You may or may not be able to go to probate court "pro se", depends on your state laws -- for example: in Kansas, yes; in Missouri, no. You can find an estate attorney in the yellow pages. As part of the paperwork they submit to the court, they will include an "executor" -- someone legally authorized to act for the estate. Your best bet is to call a lawyer and find out what you need to do for your state.

Answer 4

If a individual dies intestate, the valuables is going to the state, and is shipped in accordance to the intestacy rules of that state. The regulation would be certain who will inherit the valuables (heirs) and how the valuables would be divided between the heirs, even if it won't be able to be certain who will receive specific products of property.

Answer 5

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