A special administrator is someone appointed by a court to fill the role of a normal administrator, usually until a more permanent administrator can be appointed. A special administrator may be appointed when someone needs to manage the assets and affairs immediately when the present administrator can no longer serve or the parties disagree over a long-term administrator. Often, the special administrator will have limited authority regarding distributing assets, and they will mainly be appointed to pay bills, taxes, and make any time sensitive decisions. A special administrator may also refer to an administrator appointed only for a specific part of the estate like art, which needs to be sold or allocated differently than other parts of the estate.
[Last updated in August of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]