Letters of Administration in New York

Letters of administration in New York is a document issued by the Surrogate’s Court. It enables you to act on behalf of the estate of a person who died without a will. The document is not a letter. Rather, it’s a court order.

It was called “letters” for hundreds of years and the name stuck to this day.

Because the document is actually a court order, a lawyer cannot write letters of administration for you. What a lawyer can do is represent you in applying for letters of administration to the court. If you are looking for an attorney, you can send us an email at [email protected].

Through the process called estate administration, the court will verify that you are the closest living relative. The court will also make sure that you are the relative with the priority to be appointed the estate administrator.

How to get Letters of administration in New York

To get letters of administration, you will need your New York estate attorney to apply through the Surrogate’s Court. Your attorney will need to submit the appropriate documents, which may include

• Petition for administration of estate
• Oath and designation
• the original death certificate
• notices
• citations
• copy of the funeral bill
• affidavit of heirship
• affidavit re. sole distributee
• affidavit of family tree
• affidavit of due diligence
• other documents

The Surrogate’s Court will hold a hearing where the judge will consider your candidacy for the Letters of Administration.

How long does it take to get letters of administration

It typically takes a few months to get letters of administration in New York. If someone is contesting your right to become the estate administrator, then getting letters of administration can take years. The court can deny your application for letters of administration altogether, with either the challenger or the public administrator getting the letters instead. Although getting the letters is only one of the steps of a New York administration proceeding, it is the most crucial step.

If the person who died left a will, then the document will be similar and with similar powers, but it will be called “Letters Testamentary,” and the Certificate will be called “Certificate of the Appointment of Executor.”

Who is appointed administrator

Through the process called estate administration, the court will verify that you are the closest living relative. The court will also make sure that you are the relative with the priority to be appointed the estate administrator.

The court issues Letters of Administration to appoint you as the administrator of an estate of someone who died. You can only be an administrator if you are related to the person who died.

• The spouse of the decedent gets a preference,
• followed by children,
• grandchildren,
• other descendants,
• parents,
• siblings,
• etc.

If someone died and no one stepped forward to be the administrator of their estate, then the Public Administrator of the relevant county is granted Letters of Administration by the court.

Responsibilities of the administrator

Letters of administration in New York authorize you to act as a representative of an estate. It allows you to perform the responsibilities of an estate.

Here are some of the things you will do once you are appointed as an administrator of an estate by Letters of Administration issued by the Surrogate’s Court:

• Obtain a tax id number for an estate from the federal government
• Open an estate bank account
• Request information from banks and other institutions that control the decedent’s assets.
• The banks will comply if you show them the Letters of Administration and the death certificate
• Transfer assets from the decedent’s name to the name of the estate
• Pay debts of the decedent
• Collect claims of the decedent
• Marshal assets of the estate
• Distribute the estate assets to the beneficiaries of the estate, after obtaining proper waivers or providing an accounting

Those things would be impossible to do without Letters of administration in New York. The banks will not give you information and will not transfer the assets, the county recorder will not record property deeds, and a buyer will not buy a property from you.

You often need more than one, since each bank and government agency would require an original. Also, since some institutions require a more official-looking document, the court can issue a Certificate of Appointment of Administrator. It’s printed on watermarked blue paper and looks similar to a death certificate, birth certificate, or marriage certificate.

Even if the decedent died in a different state and you have Letters of Administration from that state, you will still need to obtain separate Letters of Administration in New York. The court will grant you Ancillary Letters of Administration by verifying out-of-state Letters of Administration through a New York ancillary administration proceeding.

The court issues Letters of administration when you apply the court appoints you as the administrator of an estate of someone who died. You can only be an administrator if you are related to the person who died. The spouse of the decedent gets a preference, followed by children, grandchildren, other descendants, parents, siblings, etc.

If someone died and no one stepped forward to be the administrator of their estate, then the Public Administrator of the relevant county is granted Letters of Administration by the court.

Fiduciary duty

The administrator has a duty to always act in the best interests of the estate and its beneficiaries. If the administrator acts with conflict of interest or self-interest, the beneficiaries can have the administrator removed, and the administrator can be liable for damages.

Ancillary letters of administration

Even if the decedent died in a different state and you have Letters of Administration from that state, you will still need to obtain separate Letters of Administration in New York. The court will grant you Ancillary Letters of Administration by verifying out-of-state Letters of Administration through a New York ancillary administration proceeding.

Limited letters of administration

Limited letters of administration may also be issued by the court to perform limited functions, such as to initiate a lawsuit, to investigate estate assets, or to initiate discovery and turnover proceedings of assets of the deceased that are in the hands of a third person. Limited letters can also be issued even when there is already an administrator or executor appointed by the court, especially when the purpose is to investigate an executor’s self-dealing activities that might be considered unfair or fraudulent, or when you want to investigate conversion or theft of assets.

Temporary letters of administration

Temporary letters of administration expire every six months and are issued when there is an anticipated delay in the issuance of full letters of administration and there is a need to take action in order to protect the interests of the estate. For example, when it will take time to acquire jurisdiction over all necessary parties, when not everyone signs waivers and consents, when one is trying to probate a copy of a lost will, or when the nominated executor renounces or is incompetent or unqualified to serve, the court may issue temporary letters to protect the estate. It is also issued in cases of an absentee person (a person who has disappeared but has left property in the state).

If you would like legal representation in obtaining Letters of Administration, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. We have offices in New York City, Brooklyn, NY and Queens, NY. You can call us at 212-233-1233 or send us an email at [email protected].

Sources:

NY SCPA Article 10