THE ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES (SMALL ESTATES ... - FAO

1 THE ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES ( small ESTATES )( special provisions ) Instrument 156 ADMINISTRATION of ESTATES ( small ESTATES ) ( special provisions )(Probate and ADMINISTRATION ) of probate and ADMINISTRATION for probate or letters of of death; other information to be supplied to of court on receiving application for of will to be annexed to of will; annexing of will to of the will of blind or illiterate testator, revocation of of priority for grant where deceased left a of priority for grant in case of for contentious probate and ADMINISTRATION of probate of to accept or refuse or to take a to propound a of process outside limits of of probate or letters of ADMINISTRATION to be under seal where two or more persons entitled in same to swear a on behalf of where infant is of probate and and revocation of of ADMINISTRATION of original wills of which probate or ADMINISTRATION withwill annexed of final by

2 Chief ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES ( small ESTATES )( special provisions ) Instrument 156 ADMINISTRATION of ESTATES ( small ESTATES ) ( special provisions )(Probate and ADMINISTRATION ) Rules.(Under section 8 of the Act.) Rules may be cited as the ADMINISTRATION of ESTATES ( small ESTATES )( special provisions ) (Probate and ADMINISTRATION ) these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires (a) administrator means a person appointed by a court toadminister the estate of a deceased person when there is noexecutor;(b) executor means a person appointed by the last will of adeceased person to execute the terms of the will.

3 (c) guardian means a surviving parent of an infant or a personappointed by will to be guardian of an infant;(d) personal representative means the person appointed by law toadminister the estate or any part of the estate of a deceasedperson;(e) probate means the grant by a court authorising the executornamed in the testator s last will to administer the testator s probate and ADMINISTRATION for probate or letters of ADMINISTRATION .(1)An application for probate shall be in Form 1A of the FirstSchedule to these Rules with the will annexed.

4 (2)An application for letters of ADMINISTRATION shall be in Form 1 Bof the First Schedule to these Rules.(3)After a will has been deposited in court by an applicant, it maynot be delivered to the applicant or to any other person unless (in specialcircumstances) the magistrate so directs.(4)A person may apply by himself or herself or through an advocatefor a grant by tendering his or her application in Form 1A or 1B of the FirstSchedule to these Rules to the court.(5)An application for probate or letters of ADMINISTRATION (a)shall be subscribed by the applicant in the presence of amagistrate or by his or her advocate, if any; and(b)shall be verified by at least one of the witnesses who is in aposition to testify to the authenticity of the signature of thetestator in the manner provided in Form 1A of the First Scheduleto these Rules or to the like of death; other information to be supplied to court.

5 (1)Every applicant shall produce a certificate or such other evidenceof the death of the deceased to the satisfaction of the court.(2)Every applicant shall supply all information necessary to the courtto enable the papers leading to the grant to be prepared by the court, and thecourt shall be responsible for embodying that information in proper form freeof of court on receiving application for grant.(1)On receiving an application for a grant of probate or letters ofadministration, the court shall issue a notice in Form 2 of the First Scheduleto these Rules.

6 (2)A court shall not allow any grant to issue until all inquiries whichit may deem fit to make have been answered to its satisfaction, and for thatpurpose the court may (a)examine the applicant in person, upon oath or solemnaffirmation;(b)require further evidence of the due execution of the will, or theright of the applicant to the letters of ADMINISTRATION , as the casemay be;(c)require further evidence of the identity of the deceased or of theapplicant for the grant, as the case may be, beyond that containedin the application; or(d)issue summons calling upon all persons appearing in theapplication to have any interest in the estate of the deceased toappear before the court before the grant of probate or letters ofadministration.

7 (3)Except for special reasons stated on the record, no grant ofprobate or of letters of ADMINISTRATION with the will annexed shall issue withinfifteen days of the death of the deceased, and no grant of ADMINISTRATION shallissue within thirty days of that of will to be annexed to the will is written in any language other than English, there shall bea translation of the will annexed to the application by a translator of thecourt, or by any person competent to translate it, and the translation shall beverified by that person in the following manner, I, _____, declare that I read andperfectly understand the language and character of the original,and that the above is a true and accurate translation of theoriginal.

8 Of will; annexing of will to application.(1)Every will in respect of which an application for a grant is madeshall be marked by the signatures of the applicant and the magistrate, andshall be annexed to the application for probate.(2)Where the court is satisfied that compliance with this rule mightresult in the loss of the will, it may allow a copy of the will to be marked andannexed to the application in lieu of the of the will of blind or illiterate testator, admitting to proof a will which appears to have been signed by ablind or illiterate testator or by another person by direction of the testator, orwhich, for any other reason, gives rise to doubt as to the testator having hadknowledge of the contents of the will at the time of its execution.

9 The courtshall satisfy itself that the testator had such revocation of appearance of attempted revocation of a will by burning, tearing orotherwise, and every other circumstance leading to a presumption ofrevocation by the testator, shall be accounted for to the court s of priority for grant where deceased left a persons entitled to a grant of probate or ADMINISTRATION with the willannexed shall be determined in accordance with the following order ofpriority (a)the executor;(b)any residuary legatee or devisee holding in trust for any of priority for grant in case of intestacy.

10 (1)The persons entitled to a grant of letters of ADMINISTRATION shallbe determined in accordance with the following order of priority (a)the children of the deceased;(b)the surviving spouse;(c)the father or mother of the deceased;(d)brothers and sisters of the whole blood, or the issue of anydeceased brother or sister of the whole blood who had diedduring the lifetime of the deceased and any persons entitled byvirtue of any enactment to be treated as if they were the childrenof the deceased; or(e)the issue of any such child of the deceased,except that any person entitled to a grant of letters of ADMINISTRATION underparagraphs (a) to (d) of this subrule may, with the consent of persons entitledin the same degree in writing, authorise any person entitled in the next degreeunder those paragraphs to apply for the grant.