INTRODUCTION

A grant of letters of administration is usually required when someone dies without a will. Before you can inherit from your benefactor, you must apply for letters of administration from the court. The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the simple steps needed to secure the grant. Where someone dies without a will, the death is intestate. Any handling of property of a deceased person without official authorization from the court amounts to intermeddling, which is a criminal offense attracting a maximum sentence of 1 year imprisonment. 

PROCEDURE

Once a person passes away, the surviving family members should have a meeting to appoint a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 persons to be administrators. The proposed administrators will do the following:

1. Process and obtain a death certificate for the deceased
2. Process and obtain a chief’s letter. The letter will indicate all the beneficiaries and their relationship to the deceased person.
3. Get an inventory of assets and liabilities of the deceased.

Once the above has been done, the proposed administrators will sign the following forms:

1. Petition for Letters of Administration (Form 80)
2. An Affidavit for all administrators (Form 5)
3. Consent by beneficiaries (Form 38)
4. Affidavit of Justification ( For sureties and administrators).

The administrators will then file the documents in court. Where the estate exceeds 10 Million shillings, the Petition is filed at the High Court. The court then prepares a gazette notice which runs for 1 month.

Once the gazette period is completed, a grant is automatically issued to the administrators, giving the administrators power to consolidate the estate.

CONFIRMATION OF GRANT

The administrators have 6 months after the grant is issued to file a Summons for Confirmation of Grant . This is a document that is accompanied by a Schedule of Distribution that divides the estate. All beneficiaries are required to sign the Schedule. Those opposed to the mode of distribution file protests.

If the court is happy with the distribution, it confirms the grant. Once confirmed, the property then passes to the beneficiaries.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the process for applying for letters of administration is simple. The main ingredient for a successful succession process is cooperation of all beneficiaries in the family.