Administrator

An administrator does the same job as an executor — collecting assets, paying debts and distributing the estate — but is appointed by the court rather than named in a Will. This usually happens when a person dies intestate (without a valid Will), or where the Will fails to name an executor who can act. The administrator's authority comes from a grant of Letters of Administration.

Courts generally appoint the person with the greatest entitlement to the estate, such as a spouse or adult child, as administrator. Example: "Because their father left no Will, his eldest daughter applied to be administrator so she could sell the house and divide the proceeds among the siblings." The order of priority for who may apply differs slightly between states and territories.