Where a deceased died with a valid Will (or testatment), his estate is said to be testate. In a testate estate, his estate (assets) will be managed by the Executor(s) appointed under the deceased's Will.

The Executor(s) appointed under the Will will usually appoint a law firm to apply to the Court for a Grant of Probate (as opposed to a Grant of Letters of Administration in an intestate estate). There are other variations of applications for grant of representation (eg. where all the appointed Executors have died).

Read more: Grant of Probate

Where a deceased died without a valid Will (or testatment), his estate is said to be intestate. In an intestate estate, his estate (assets) will be managed by Court appointed person(s) called Administrator(s). Persons who can apply to the Court to be appointed as Administrator(s) depend on his/her/their legal relationship with the deceased.

Depending on the value of the deceased's estate, in an application for the Grant of Letters of Administration, the Court may require the Administrator(s) to procure 2 sureties to execute an Administration Bond in favour of the Court. If the Aministrator(s) is/are unable to provide 2 sureties, the Adminstrator(s) may apply for a dispensation of this requirement. Whether such application can be successful depend on the circumstances of each case..

Read more: Grant of Letters of Administration

If you (or your clients) have already obtained a Grant of Representation from a probate court in any of the Commonwealth or approved country or territory (eg. Hong Kong SAR), you may apply for that Grant to be resealed by the Supreme Court (High Court) in Singapore if the deceased has assets in Singapore at the time of his demise.

Grant of Representation is usually called a Grant of Letters of Administration (intestate, i.e. without a valid Will) or Grant of Probate (testate, i.e. with WIll) or by whatever name called in that foreign jurisdiction. If the application to the Court is successful, the Court will issue a Memorandum of Resealing.

Read more: Resealing of Commonwealth Grant

Apart from resealing cases, if a deceased died domiciled outside Singapore and has assets in Singapore, his or her personal representative(s) will need to apply for a grant of representation such as a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration in Singapore in order to deal with the deceased's assets here.

In simple terms, 'domicile' means the country in which the deceased reside as his permanent home at the time of his death and he had no intention of an alternative home in another country in the future (beofre his death).

Read more: Foreign Domiciled Deceased