Administrator: Definition and How It Works in California

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated September 2026.

An administrator is the person a probate court appoints to run an estate when there is no will, or when the will names no executor able to serve. Once appointed, an administrator has the same basic duties as an executor.

How it works in California

When someone dies without a will, Prob. Code, § 8461 sets the order of priority for who the probate court appoints as administrator. Priority runs from the surviving spouse or domestic partner through children, other descendants, parents, siblings, and more distant relatives, before reaching public administrators and other creditors.

When someone dies with a will but the will names no executor, or the named executor can’t or won’t serve, the court appoints an administrator with the will annexed under Prob. Code, §§ 8440-8442 instead. That administrator still has to carry out the will’s terms even though the will didn’t name them, so the estate is settled by will rather than by the intestate succession rules that apply when there’s no will at all.

Why it matters

For example, a woman dies with a will that leaves everything to her adult children but names her late husband as the sole executor. Because no backup executor is named and her husband died first, the court has to appoint an administrator with the will annexed under Prob. Code, §§ 8440-8442, which give priority to people who take under the will, before anyone has authority to collect her assets or pay her bills.

Common mistakes

Assuming a family member can start managing the decedent’s accounts or property before the court issues letters. Naming only one executor in a will without a backup, which forces an administration proceeding if that person has died or can’t serve. Confusing an administrator, who serves when there’s no will or no willing executor, with an administrator with the will annexed, who serves under a will that simply failed to name someone able to act.

Related terms

• Letters of Administration: the court document that gives an administrator authority to act.
• Personal Representative: the umbrella term covering both administrators and executors.
• Executor: the person named in a will who is able and willing to serve, when one exists.
• Decedent: the person whose estate the administrator is appointed to run.
• Ancillary Probate: a second, separate proceeding when the decedent owned property outside their home state.
• Notice of Proposed Action: how an administrator tells interested people about certain planned steps before taking them.
• Probate Referee: the court-appointed appraiser who values non-cash assets during administration.

Part of the California estate planning glossary.