Domiciliary Letters are issued to the Personal Representative by the Court upon the filing of all required documents with the Register in Probate in an Informal proceeding, or after a hearing before the Circuit Court Judge in a Formal proceeding. Domiciliary Letters give the Personal Representative the authority to act on behalf of the estate of the decedent and to perform all duties required to administer the estate according to statute.
A person nominated as personal representative in a will does not have authority to act as personal representative until appointed by the probate court.
Not all probate proceedings require Domiciliary Letters to release property and accounts.