Getting appointed
Who the court can appoint and in what order, the bond nobody warned you about, and why your authority starts with the Letters — not before.
The Administrator's Manual · Edition 1 · 2026
When There's No Will
You've searched the desk twice. There is no will, and there isn't going to be one. What you have instead is a statute, a court, and a family asking you what happens next. This is the step-by-step for that.
- 8chapters, in the order you'll need them
- 22plain decision rules
- 17worked scenarios
- 5companion files to fill in and print
- 92claims checked against primary sources
From the opening pages
The drawer.
You have been through the desk twice.
Every guide you have picked up so far starts at the same place. Locate the will. Read the will. File the will with the probate court. … A will names the person in charge. A will says who gets what. A will answers, in advance, the two questions your family is already asking you at the kitchen table.
You do not have that document, and there is not going to be one.
Who inherits — and how to check
A statute decides, not the family. The book shows you how your state's order of heirs works and exactly how to look up your own state's rule.
Closing it safely
Creditors paid by rank, the taxes, the accounting, receipts and releases — and what to do when the siblings won't sign.
Try it — free, from Chapter 2
No will doesn't mean everything goes through probate.
Your first job isn't to collect anything. It's to sort. Pick an asset and see which pile it belongs in — and why.
Life insurance with a living named beneficiary
Passes outside probate
The book's decision rule
If an asset has a living named beneficiary, a surviving joint owner with survivorship, a transfer-on-death registration, or a title in the name of a trust, treat it as outside the probate estate and leave it alone until the institution has answered you in writing. If it has none of those four things, it is probate property — and you do not touch it before your letters are issued.
Titling and registration rules vary by state and by institution. Ask each one, in writing, how the asset was held on the date of death.
Free, from Chapter 1
What to do — and not do — this week.
Before appointment you have no authority to distribute property, pay unsecured debts, or sell estate assets. Here's what you can do, and should.
- Secure the house, the vehicles and anything portable. Change nothing about how anything is titled.
- Collect the mail and open it. Unopened mail is most of the inventory.
- Order certified death certificates. The book has the method for working out how many.
- Start a written list of accounts, debts, and the people who may turn out to be heirs.
- Before paying anything, ask one question: is this protecting an asset, or settling a debt? Protecting an asset can usually be done and reimbursed. Settling a debt waits for your appointment.
- The one absolute. Never mix estate money with your own. Not for a day, not as a convenience, not on the understanding that you will square it up later.
What's inside the kit
The book, plus the paperwork it tells you to keep.
- Book
When There's No Will
Eight chapters: you're an administrator, not an executor; what's actually in the estate; who inherits; opening the estate; debts and creditors; money and taxes; benefits and the paper trail; distribution and the close.
- Map
Heir & Family Map
Family tables, the family facts your state's statute asks about, and an heir-search log. It records the facts — it never calculates shares.
- Steps
Appointment Checklist
42 steps in 9 stages, from the application to Letters and notice, each tied to the chapter that explains it.
- Sheet
Heir Sign-off Tracker
A spreadsheet with one row per heir: notices, written waivers, receipts and releases — so you always know who's still outstanding.
- Card
Script Card
Ten word-for-word scripts from the book: the probate clerk, the plan administrator, Social Security, a debt collector, and an heir who won't sign.
- States
Find Your State's Rule
The book's three-step method as a fill-in worksheet, with a statute reading list and the procedural questions a clerk can answer.
Who it's for
For the family member who has just learned there's no will — and that the court will want someone in charge.
No will foundand you may be the one who applies to be appointed.
A trust, but no willand some assets never made it into the trust.
Heirs who disagreeabout who gets what, or won't sign at the end.
What it deliberately doesn't do
It doesn't tell you who inherits or in what shares — your state's statute does that, and the book teaches you how to read it. It doesn't print one state's rules as if they were yours, and it isn't legal advice. It tells you when to stop and call a lawyer.
Choose your kit
Start with the sort. Finish with the releases.
The Administrator's Kit
$29 one-time · instant download
- When There's No Will (PDF)
- Heir & Family Map
- Appointment Checklist — 42 steps
- Heir Sign-off Tracker (spreadsheet)
- Script Card — 10 scripts
- Find Your State's Rule worksheet
30-day money-back guarantee
Save $19
The Estate Set
$59 both kits · instant download
- Everything in the Administrator's Kit
- Plus The Executor's First 90 Days complete kit — the week-by-week system for running the estate:
- 58-page guide with 10 word-for-word scripts
- 12-tab Estate Tracker spreadsheet
- First 48 Hours and Master 90-Day checklists
- Four copy-and-send letters
Secure checkout · instant download link by email
30-day money-back guarantee — no questions asked
Why both? When There's No Will covers what only happens without a will — appointment, the bond, who inherits under state law, heirs who won't sign. The Executor's First 90 Days is the day-to-day working system: the order of tasks, the phone scripts and the tracker.
About Lucas Arden Guides
Practical guides for life's hardest moments.
Lucas Arden Guides are sequence-first handbooks: what to do, in what order, in what words, and where to find the answer that's current for you. They're built to be used at a kitchen table, not studied.
How this book was made. AI was used as a tool to research and draft it. Every figure, rule and quoted requirement was checked against the source listed in its notes, on the date shown there, and anything that varies by state is marked. The structure, the review and the final approval were done by a person.
Is this legal advice?
No. It's general information about settling a US estate when there's no will, and a method for doing it in order. It tells you which questions belong to a court clerk, which to a lawyer, and when to stop and call one.
Will it tell me who inherits?
No — and nothing honest can without knowing your state. Inheritance without a will is set by each state's statute. The book explains how those statutes are built and walks you through finding and reading your own state's rule.
Does it work in my state?
It's written for estates anywhere in the US. Where a state is named, it's named as an example of how one legislature wrote it. Everything that varies is flagged, with how to check your own state.
What's the difference between an administrator and an executor?
An executor is named in a will. When there's no will, the court appoints an administrator, choosing from an order of priority that state law sets. The job is similar, but the path to it is different, and that's what this book covers.
What's in the Estate Set?
Both kits: this one, plus The Executor's First 90 Days complete kit — a 58-page week-by-week guide, a 12-tab Estate Tracker spreadsheet, two printable checklists and four letters. One purchase, one download email.
What if it isn't what I need?
Email within 30 days and you'll get a full refund — no questions, no need to explain. Refund details.
A statute is now in charge. You can still be the one who understands it.
Sort first. Get appointed. Then do the rest in order.
Get the kit — $29