IHTM05151 - Limited grants: Administration Ad Colligenda Bona

As well as the example given at IHTM05103, the most common circumstance in which an application for Administration Ad Colligenda Bona is made concerns the sale of the deceased’s house or other property. The deceased may have entered into a contract for sale but died before completion or the deceased’s executors may have found a buyer for the property shortly after the death. The common factor is that the executors have either not been able to or not had enough time to investigate the value of the deceased’s estate and submit an IHT400 to obtain a full grant and complete the sale. Any delay might jeopardise the sale so the executors do not want to wait for a full grant.

Another situation where Administration Ad Colligenda Bona might be required is when the deceased was a sole trader and a grant might be needed to run the business until such time as a full grant can be applied for.

The order made by the court will usually include the limitation ‘limited for the purpose of collecting and getting in and receiving the estate and doing such acts as may be necessary for the preservation of the same until further representation be granted’.

The grant is therefore for a limited purpose, for example, the sale of the house or running the business and the appointed administrator cannot distribute estate assets. None of the other assets in the estate can be administered until a full grant is applied for.