An Administrator Ad Prosequendum is appointed by the court to bring and prosecute a case on behalf of the deceased person’s estate. A court typically appoints an administrator to pursue a claim only if the person died intestate. An Administrator Ad Prosequendum is most commonly appointed in cases involving wrongful death claims and actions that may impact the disbursement of a decedent’s estate.
States limit the reach and eligibility of the Administrator Ad Prosequendum via their probate codes. For example, California prefers to appoint a family member as the administrator of the decedent’s estate, but in the event that “several persons have equal priority for appointment as administrator,” the court may appoint a neutral public administrator to handle the case. In New Jersey, an administrator may only bring a legal action in (1) the county where the intestate resided before death or (2) if the intestate resided somewhere outside of New Jersey, the county where the accident occurred.
[Last updated in May of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]