Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: letters testamentary are the court document proving you have authority to act for the estate. Without them almost nothing happens — no bank will release funds, no transfer agent will move securities, no insurer will discuss a policy. Being named in the will is not the same as having authority.
What they are
‘Letters’ means authority granted by the court to the personal representative to act on behalf of the estate of the decedent and refers to what has been known as letters testamentary and letters of administration. All letters shall be designated ‘letters of administration.’
— Fla. Stat. §731.201(24)
Note what that definition does: it treats letters testamentary (issued where there is a will) and letters of administration (where there is not) as the same thing — authority granted by the court. Some states use one label for both, as Florida does. The document proves the court appointed you; the will does not.
Why institutions insist on them
A bank that releases an account to the wrong person is liable to the right one. The letters are the bank’s protection, not yours, which is why the request is non-negotiable and why staff cannot make exceptions however reasonable your situation.
Get more certified copies than you think you need. Most institutions keep one, several want an original rather than a photocopy, and some require one issued within a recent period. Ordering ten at the outset costs little; going back to the court repeatedly costs weeks.
What they do not do
- They do not make estate debts yours. They give you authority to act for the estate — but paying the wrong claim first can still make you personally liable.
- They do not reach non-probate assets. Property with a surviving joint owner, or a valid beneficiary designation, passes outside the estate and outside your authority.
- They do not authorise you before they are issued. Acting between the death and the appointment is where people create problems, usually by moving money.
One clock does not wait for the letters to issue: the mortgage on an estate property keeps falling due through the gap between the death and the moment anyone has authority to pay from an estate account. Whoever advances those payments should keep the receipts — a documented advance is reimbursable; a remembered one becomes a dispute.
The first thing to do with them
Open the estate account. You will need an EIN for the estate and the letters, and until both exist there is nowhere lawful for estate money to sit. Estate funds must never pass through your personal account, which is the single most common irreversible administrative mistake.
Related: the estate account · settling an estate · what to do, in order.
General information drawn from federal statute, IRS publications and state probate codes, not legal or tax advice. Probate is STATE law and the order in which claims are paid differs between states; the federal priority rule described here applies everywhere, but the state ordering below it does not. An executor who pays the wrong claim first can become personally liable, which is why this wing exists. We sell nothing and refer you nowhere for a fee.
What comes after the letters. The mistakes that fall on the personal representative personally — paying the wrong creditor first, distributing before the claim window closes — are at probate mistakes executors make.