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The FindLaw Legal Dictionary -- free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries.

term:

Administrator

administrator n

1 : a person appointed by a probate court to manage the distribution of the assets in the estate of a person who has died without leaving a valid will or leaving a will that does not name an executor able or willing to perform see also administratrix letters of administration at letter compare executor, personal representative

administrator ad litem
: an administrator appointed to represent an estate that is a necessary party to a lawsuit

administrator cum testamento annexo
: administrator with the will annexed in this entry

administrator de bo·nis non
[-dē-bō-nis-nÄ n, -dā-bō-nis-nōn]
: an administrator appointed to administer the remaining assets in the estate when the preceding administrator or executor can or will no longer perform

administrator pen·den·te li·te
[-pen-den-tē-lī-tē, -pen-den-tā-lē-tā]
: special administrator in this entry

administrator with the will annexed
: an administrator appointed to administer an estate where the will names no executor or where the named executor is incapable of performing or unwilling to perform called also administrator cum testamento annexo

ancillary administrator
: a subordinate administrator appointed to administer the assets of an estate that are located in a different jurisdiction from the one where the deceased was domiciled and where the primary administration of the estate is taking place

foreign administrator
: an administrator appointed in another state

general administrator
: an administrator appointed to administer the entire estate of a deceased person in accordance with the laws of intestacy or in accordance with the will if there is one compare special administrator in this entry

independent administrator
: an administrator whose administration of the estate is entirely or mostly unsupervised by the probate court

public administrator
1 : a public officer who administers the estates of deceased people when there is no one else willing or entitled to perform
2 : an administrator appointed in some states for the sole purpose of being responsible for the assets in an estate pending settlement of a dispute or when there is doubt as to who should be appointed administrator

special administrator
1 : an administrator appointed to administer only a designated part of the deceased person's estate
2 : an administrator appointed for the sole purpose of being responsible for the assets in an estate usually in some emergency (as a will contest) compare general administrator in this entry
2 : a person that administers
;esp
often cap
: the head of a government agency



Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

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