By Funmilayo Olagunju

When a human being becomes deceased without a valid will before his/her death, the deceased died intestate. Letter of Administration is sought and obtained by eligible people (often amidst the relatives) for the purpose of administering the estate of the deceased.

A Letter of Administration is granted by the Probate Registry of the High Court in each State. The Registry might be located within the High Court premises or elsewhere.

The death certificate of the deceased shall be presented as proof of death.

The Application form shall be obtained (in States with manual application) or downloaded after due payment online.

The form shall be duly completed with the correct details of the Applicants and required information about the deceased. A valid means of identification of the applicants shall be required.

The Bank details of the deceased shall be supplied so that certificates or letters may be sent to the Bank by the Registry in respect of the account. Once this is done, no transaction can be made on the account until it is successfully converted to an Estate Account.

Assessment and Estate fees shall be paid.

A particular percentage of the money in the deceased’s bank account shall be paid as Estate fees. This ratio is fixed by each state but it varies from 5% to 10%.

If the deceased left landed properties within the State, the value of the properties shall be assessed by a valuer and fees shall be paid based on the assessment.

After payment, publication shall be sponsored. The purpose of the publication is to invite any objection or adverse claim from the members public within three (3) weeks.

In the absence of any (unresolved) objection, the applicants shall be interviewed and two sureties shall be provided.

The sureties shall duly fill the surety forms, attach their passport photograph and depose to an affidavit of means.

After a successful completion of these basic steps, the Letter of Administration can be issued to the Administrators.

The letter of Administration gives the Administrators legal competence to manage the estate of the deceased.

It is important to note that Letter of Administration cannot be used to withdraw money in the deceased’s account. However, the letter empowers the Administrators to operate an Estate Account from which they can make transactions after it is successfully updated in the Bank.

Some of the common challenges that accompanies the process of letter of administration are clerical mistakes, name inconsistency and multiple application from various quarters and caucus within family members and relatives.

Making a valid will as a living person spares one’s dependants the rigours attached to the processing of letter of administration.

“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous”

Proverbs 13:22 (NIV)