Articles — Wills & Estates

Letters of administration in New Zealand — step by step

By Hamish Senior, Harmony Law Limited, Tauranga · July 2026

When someone dies without a will, nobody automatically has the authority to deal with their money, house or belongings. That authority has to be granted by the High Court, and the order the court makes is called letters of administration. This article walks through what letters of administration are, when you need them, and the steps to get a grant.

I am a Tauranga lawyer and I help families obtain grants of administration and understand what comes next. If you are trying to sort out the estate of someone who died without a will, feel free to get in touch.

What are letters of administration?

If a person leaves a will, the executor named in it applies to the High Court for probate — the court's confirmation of the executor's authority. If there is no will, there is no executor, so someone has to ask the court to appoint them instead. The person appointed is called the administrator, and the grant appointing them is letters of administration.

Once granted, the administrator does much the same job as an executor: gather in the assets, pay the debts, and distribute what is left — but distribution follows the fixed intestacy formula in the Administration Act 1969, not a will.

There is also a middle case. Where there is a will but no willing or able executor, the court may grant letters of administration with the will annexed — the estate is still distributed under the will, but an administrator rather than an executor carries it out.

Do you always need a grant?

Not always. If the estate is small, the institutions holding the deceased's money can often release it without any court grant. Under the Administration Act, banks, KiwiSaver providers, ACC, employers and similar bodies may pay out up to $40,000 held with them without seeing letters of administration — a threshold raised from $15,000 in September 2025. So an estate made up of a modest bank balance and some personal belongings can sometimes be dealt with informally.

A grant is almost always needed, though, if the deceased owned a house or land in their sole name, or held more than the threshold with any single institution. If in doubt, it is worth a short conversation before you assume either way.

Who can apply?

The court does not simply appoint whoever asks first. The Administration Act 1969 and the High Court Rules set out an order of priority. In broad terms, the people entitled to share in the estate come first — usually the surviving spouse or partner, then the children, then parents, and so on down the family. A creditor of the estate, or the Crown, may apply further down the list.

Where two or more people have equal priority — for example, several adult children — they can apply jointly, or the others can sign a document consenting to one of them acting alone. Where higher-priority people do not wish to act, they can formally step aside so that someone further down can apply. Sorting out who applies, and getting the necessary consents, is often the part that takes the most care.

The steps to a grant

1. Confirm there really is no will. Check with the deceased's lawyer, bank and the main will registries first. Many "intestacies" turn out to have a will after all, which changes the process entirely.
2. Work out who has priority to apply, and obtain written consents or renunciations from anyone with equal or higher priority who is not applying.
3. Prepare the application documents. These are the prescribed High Court forms — the application itself and a sworn or affirmed affidavit by the proposed administrator, setting out the death, the family circumstances, the absence of a will, and the assets and liabilities. Supporting documents such as the death certificate and proof of relationship go with it.
4. Swear or affirm the affidavit before a solicitor, Justice of the Peace or court registrar.
5. File the application with the High Court probate registry. The current filing fee is $275; a fee waiver can be applied for if paying it would cause hardship.
6. Wait for the grant. If the registry is satisfied and raises no queries, letters of administration are usually issued within a few weeks. If the papers need correcting, the registry sends a requisition and the clock effectively restarts, so getting the documents right the first time matters.
7. Administer the estate — collect the assets, pay debts and tax, and distribute the balance according to the intestacy rules. An administrator who pays the wrong people can be personally liable, so this is the stage to take advice before, not after, distributing.

How I can help

I prepare and file letters of administration and probate applications, and I advise administrators on their duties and on how the intestacy rules apply to a particular family. Harmony Law does not operate a trust account, so I do not hold or distribute estate funds — my role is to get the grant in place and give you clear advice on the steps, while you (as administrator) deal with the assets. For many families that is exactly the help they need: the paperwork done properly, and someone to ask.

The simpler path: make a will

Everything above exists because there was no will. A will lets you choose your own executor and decide who inherits, instead of leaving both to a statutory formula and a court application. If this has reminded you that you have been meaning to sort yours out, that is the easiest problem I solve all week.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every estate is different — please get advice on your own situation. Figures stated (the $40,000 payment-without-administration threshold and the $275 High Court filing fee) are current at July 2026.