Estate Planning and Probate Law Practice Test 2026 – Your All-in-One Guide to Mastering Estate Law!

In wrongful death cases, the party who represents the decedent’s estate in the lawsuit is the administrator ad litem. This designation is used specifically for litigation, meaning the court appoints this administrator to handle the estate’s claims within the civil action and protect the estate’s interests on the docket. The general probate role—an executor or administrator—handles administration outside of court, but when a suit is filed, the ad litem serves as the estate’s representative for that litigation. The other terms don’t fit: an administrator ad prosequendum is a criminal-procedure tool used to bring a prisoner to court; a beneficiary is someone who inherits and does not act as the estate’s representative in court; and while an executor can be the personal representative in probate, the designation used for court proceedings on behalf of the estate is ad litem.