Applying for Letters of Administration

When a person dies without leaving a valid Will, they are said to have died intestate. Nobody automatically has authority to deal with what they owned. A next-of-kin must apply to the Family Justice Courts for Letters of Administration, which appoints them administrator of the estate.

Two things follow from there being no Will, and they surprise most families:

• The deceased’s wishes carry no legal weight. What they told the family they wanted does not decide anything. Distribution follows a fixed statutory order.
• Somebody has to volunteer. The court does not appoint an administrator on its own. A qualifying family member has to step forward and apply.

How the estate is divided

Distribution is governed by the Intestate Succession Act, which sets fixed shares depending on who survives — for example, whether there is a surviving spouse, whether there are children, and whether parents or siblings survive.

What makes an intestate estate harder

Compared with a straightforward probate, expect more work where:

• The family has to agree who applies. Nothing proceeds until that is settled.
• Sureties may be required. Depending on the value of the estate and who the beneficiaries are, the court may require a guarantee before granting administration.
• A beneficiary is a minor. Additional safeguards apply where a child is entitled to a share, and this commonly requires more than one administrator.
• The family tree is unclear. Where relatives are estranged, overseas or uncontactable, establishing who is entitled takes time.

What we do

We gather and organise the documents, establish what the estate actually contains, write to the banks, insurers, CPF Board and HDB, keep the file moving when institutions go quiet, and keep you told what is happening in plain language.

We are not a law firm, and we do not conduct the court application on your behalf — in Singapore only an advocate and solicitor may do that for another person. There are two ways through it. Administrator-led, where we prepare everything and the administrator files the application directly, which is the lowest-cost route. Or lawyer-assisted, where our lawyer partners handle the end-to-end legal work including the court application — and because the administrative groundwork is already done, it costs less than a traditional full-service law firm. Either way you are not paying legal rates for administrative chasing.

Where to start

You do not need documents in order before you speak to us. Knowing roughly what the person owned, and who survives them, is enough for us to tell you which route applies and what the realistic timeline looks like.