A grant of probate or letters of administration may be cancelled for in the following reasons;

• Where the grant/letters were obtained fraudulently by making a false suggestion or by concealing from court information
• Where the grant has become useless/inoperative for example where the administrator dies or becomes insane or where the administrator uses the deceased s estate for their personal gain to the detriment of the beneficiaries.
• Where the person to whom the grant was made has refused to distribute the estate, to file an inventory and or an account.

• Having a will ensures that upon one’s death, his/her property is given to those people that he/she intended it to go to.
• A will helps to avoid family wrangles/conflicts that normally result from failure to agree.
• A will enables the will-maker to appoint an heir of his/her choice
• A will enable the relatives of the dead to know all his/her properties which may not be known to them
• A will ensures that the deceased’s property is distributed by a trusted person.

The law of succession involves the management of the property of a deceased person. There are two ways to deal with a deceased person’s property depending on whether at death they had left a will or not.

The authority given to an executor/executrix (a person named in the will to distribute the property) is called a grant of probate

The authority given to an administrator (person given authority to distribute the property of a person who died without a will) is called letters of administration.