INHERITANCE OF ASSETS: HOW TO OBTAIN LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION IN LAGOS STATE

If you are desirous of inheriting your parent’s assets or deal with a deceased person’s assets, you may need to apply for letter of administration especially where the deceased did not make a will or appoint executors or the will is invalid or the named executors have refused to act.

In this article, we have set out the procedure for obtaining a letter of administration in Lagos State.

1          What is a Letter of Administration?

A Letter of Administration is a document issued by the High Court of any State in Nigeria that gives the person or persons named in the letter the legal right to access the assets, money and property of a deceased person who died without making a will in other to pay their taxes, settle their debts and deal with the assets without restrictions.

2          When will the Court issue or grant of Letters of Administration?

• When the deceased dies without a Will
• Where the will is invalid.
• Where no executors are named in the will.
• Where the executors named in the will are unwilling or unable to carry out their duties.

3          Who are those eligible to apply for grant of letters of administration?

• Surviving Spouse of the deceased i.e., either the husband or wife
• Children or grandchildren of the deceased
• Parents of the deceased
• Siblings of the deceased 
• Grandparents of the deceased
• Aunts or Uncles of the deceased
• Cousins of the deceased

4          What are the requirements for processing of letters of administration?

• Original Death Certificate of the Deceased containing his/her full names and date of death 
• Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the deceased
• Passport Photograph of the deceased
• Names and Bank Account Numbers of the deceased
• Documents of landed Properties (if the deceased has any)
• Share Certificates (if the deceased has shares in companies 
• Place of residence of the deceased shortly before his death 
• Proposed Names of administrators
• Valid means of identification of the proposed administrator
• Name and addresses of deceased parents
• Telephone numbers and email addresses of the proposed administrators  
• Two Sureties resident in Lagos and above the age of 18 years
• One Passport Photograph and valid means of identification of each Surety  

N.B. The death certificate must be one issued by the National Population Commission or a Government owned Hospital

5          What are the procedures for processing grant of Letters of Administration?

The High Court of Lagos State has automated the procedure for application and grant of Letters of administration through its website, https://probate.lagosjudiciary.gov.ng

i           Log into https://probate.lagosjudiciary.gov.ng and create an account (if you are new user)

ii          Upload the Death Certificate of the deceased and Letter of Application for grant of probate in a PDF Format

iii         Complete the questions provided for on the portal. The information provided for incudes the following:

• Oath of Administration by the applicants 
• Particulars of landed property left by the deceased 
• Administration Bond to ensure that the grantee makes proper inventory, distributes the estate accordingly and pays out of all just debts. 
• Affidavit/Declaration as to next-of-kin
• Bank certificate 
• Inventory
• Schedule of debts and funeral expenses

iv         Pay the Prescribed fee of N2,000.00 

v          Print out the completed forms and take it to the registry for endorsement and collection of Bank Certificate

N.B.     The purpose of the Bank certificate is to capture the assets such as shares/stock and monies in Bank accounts belonging to the deceased person.

vi         Get the proposed Administrators to sign on the forms and take the Bank certificates to the banks or Pension Fund administrator where the deceased money is domiciled for endorsement. 

vii        Return the endorsed bank certificate to the Probate registry for assessment. 

N.B.     Where landed property forms part of the deceased’s assets, the Valuation Unit of the ProbateRegistry may be required to conduct an inspection of the property(ies) for the purpose of attaching a value to it, after which an assessment for the payment of estate duty shall be issued. This is usually calculated as a certain percentage of the value of the Estate. The sum contained in the assessment sheet shall constitute the money to be paid as probate fee/estate duty.

viii       Pay 10% assessment Fee via draft in favour of Lagos State Judiciary or through a designated Collection Bank 

ix         Pay the Cost of publication in the sum of N7,000 

x          Wait for 21 days after publications for possible opposition from members of the public

xi         Where there is no opposition after 21 days from the date of the publication, the process will continue by the preparation of the minutes and order. 

xi         the minutes and order with the file will be passed to the Probate Judge for approval. After approval, the final letters of administration will be prepared and thereafter dispatched to the Probate Registrar to be signed and delivered to the applicant(s).

6          What is the timeline for processing the grant of Letters of Administration?

The timeline for completion and grant of Letter of Administration is about 3 – 5 months. Although, with the introduction of the electronic filing system in Lagos State Probate registry, it is expected that with time, the process will become faster.

Finally, it is important to state that the application for grant of Letters of administration in Lagos State can only be done in the Lagos or Ikeja judicial Division of the Lagos State High Court.