Short answer. One year, in the first instance. On granting letters testamentary or of administration, the court allows the executor or administrator time to dispose of the estate and pay its debts and legacies, not exceeding one year. The court may extend it after a hearing, by at most six months at a time, and never beyond two years in all.
What the law says
the court shall allow to the executor or administrator a time for disposing of the estate and paying the debts and legacies of the deceased, which shall not, in the first instance, exceed one year
Rule 88, Section 15 — Time for paying debts and legacies fixed, or extended after notice, within what periods. Read the full provision →
What the law says
not exceeding six months for a single extension nor so that the whole period allowed to the original executor or administrator shall exceed two years
Rule 88, Section 15 — Time for paying debts and legacies fixed, or extended after notice, within what periods. Read the full provision →
The starting allowance: one year
The clock is set at the very start of the administration. On granting the letters, the court shall allow to the executor or administrator a time for disposing of the estate and paying the debts and legacies of the deceased, which shall not, in the first instance, exceed one year. The period is not something the administrator chooses; the court fixes it, and one year is the ceiling for the initial grant. Within that time the administrator is expected to convert what needs converting, pay the creditors, and satisfy the legacies the will provides.
Extensions are possible, but bounded
If the estate cannot be wound up in the original period, the executor or administrator may apply for more time — but not quietly. The extension is granted only after a hearing, on such notice of its time and place to all persons interested as the court directs, and only as the circumstances of the estate require. Each extension is capped: not exceeding six months for a single extension nor so that the whole period allowed to the original executor or administrator shall exceed two years. So however complicated the estate, the original administrator's total allowance under this rule tops out at two years.
What the limits mean for heirs and creditors
These ceilings exist for the people waiting on the estate. An heir watching an administration drag knows the administrator was given at most a year to pay debts and legacies, and that any stretch beyond it required a noticed hearing at which interested persons could appear and object. A creditor, likewise, can measure the administrator's progress against a fixed calendar rather than an open-ended one. If the period has run and neither payment nor an extension application has come, that is a matter to raise with the probate court, which retains control of the administrator it appointed.
What to check in your own case
Look first at the order granting the letters and any later orders: they state the period actually allowed and any extensions actually granted, and the dates control everything else. Then compare the estate's condition against that timeline — which debts are settled, which legacies delivered, what remains unsold. If you are the administrator, apply for an extension before the period lapses rather than after, since the rule requires notice and a hearing. If you are an heir or creditor, the same orders tell you whether the delay you are experiencing is authorised or something the court should hear about.