Letters of testamentary, also called letters of administration, are court certified documents giving a person the power to conduct business on behalf of someone else. Typically, these letters are given to a court appointed administrator of a deceased person's estate although they can be given to a temporary administrator of an estate if there is a dispute among named executors or the executor is found to be incompetent for some reason. Letters of testamentary allow all business to be conducted in the name of the deceased, including collecting the estates assets in order to protect them, paying creditors, distributing the estate property according to a will or state laws if the deceased is intestate, the power to conduct these acts ends upon the closing of the estate.