A person picked by the court to be the temporary personal representative of estate until the court names a permanent one. Special administrators have limited powers. Their powers end as soon as the court names a general personal representative.

a representative of a decedent appointed by the probate court to care for and preserve his estate until an executor or general administrator is appointed

a person assigned or appointed to act for a specific / special reason or to perform a specific duty for a particular time, person, object or class.

(1) In the law of wills and estates, a person appointed by the court to take charge of only a designated portion of an estate during probate. For example, a special administrator with particular expertise on art might be appointed to oversee the probate of a wealthy person's art collection, but not the entire estate. (2) A person appointed to be responsible for a deceased person's property for a limited time or during an emergency, such as a challenge to the will or to the qualifications of the named executor. In such cases, the special administrator's duty is to maintain and preserve the estate, not necessarily to take control of the probate process

A Special administrator is a court-appointed person who administrates a court-defined part of an estate during probate. A special administrator with expertise in automobiles, for example, would administrate the probate of the deceased's car collection. A special administrator can also oversee an entire estate, albeit for a limited time (in case of emergency).