Probate and Administration Act 1934 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
13. On failure of executors
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If a will names no executor, or none is able or willing to act, the court may grant letters of administration with the will attached to whoever it thinks fittest. The order of priority is: those left all or the rest of the estate, representatives of such people who have died, certain beneficiaries, people left gifts, then creditors.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Where —
no executor is appointed by a will;
the executor or all the executors appointed by will are legally incapable of acting as such, or have renounced the right to act as such;
no executor survives the testator;
all the executors die before obtaining probate or before having administered all the estate of the deceased; or
the executors appointed by any will do not appear and extract probate,letters of administration with the will annexed may be granted to such person or persons as the court considers the fittest to administer the estate.
A prior right to a grant under subsection (1) shall belong to the following persons in the following order:
a universal or residuary legatee;
a legal personal representative of a deceased universal or residuary legatee;
such person or persons, being beneficiaries under the will, as would have been entitled to a grant of letters of administration if the deceased had died intestate;
a legatee having a beneficial interest;
a creditor of the deceased.