Creditor as Administrator
Section 9-3(j) of the Illinois Probate Act allows a decedent's creditor to act as the administrator of the decedent's estate (but only if there's no one else able and willing to act). I don't know of many cases where a creditor would want to assume this burden, but it's important to realize that, in doing so, the creditor-administrator assumes all of the regular duties of an administrator. For instance, the creditor-administrator owes a duty to ALL beneficiaries and creditors of the estate, not just himself. That includes a duty to maximize the value of estate assets. A funeral director in Connecticut who was named administrator of a decedent's estate (presumably to get his own bill paid) ran into problems with this issue, as described here:
Bridgeport Probate Judge Paul J. Ganim made clear Monday that he plans close scrutiny of Coventry funeral director Kevin K. Riley's administration of an estate in which a deceased woman's home was sold for $175,000, then resold less than four months later for $305,000.
