Administration of Estates (Small Estates) (Special Provisions) Act

Establishes how this Act interacts with the Succession Act and specifies exceptions: the Act is to be read with the Succession Act but prevails on conflict; Part V of the Succession Act applies mutatis mutandis to small intestate estates; Part XXXI of the Succession Act does not apply to administration of small estates

Jurisdiction: Uganda
Instrument: Act or statute
Citation: Chapter 156
Version: Undated source snapshot
Language: en

Source attribution: Source: Uganda Legal Information Institute

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About this statute

Establishes rules for regulating the practice and procedure of the magistrates courts in probate business. Anyone who, in an application or declaration required under this Act, makes an averment they know or believe is false commits an offence and is liable to penalties for giving or fabricating false evidence. The Administrator General may apply to the court for letters of administration and is not precluded from doing so. Establishes how this Act interacts with the Succession Act and specifies exceptions: the Act is to be read with the Succession Act but prevails on conflict; Part V of the Succession Act applies mutatis mutandis to small intestate estates; Part XXXI of the Succession Act does not apply to administration of small estates; and Section 5 of the Administrator General’s Act does not apply to applications for letters of administration under this Act. Defines the terms "currency point", "Minister", and "small estate" for the Act.

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Provisions of Administration of Estates (Small Estates) (Special Provisions) Act

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1. Application of Act

Establishes how this Act interacts with the Succession Act and specifies exceptions: the Act is to be read with the Succession Act but prevails on conflict; Part V of the Succession Act applies mutatis mutandis to small intestate estates; Part XXXI of the Succession Act does not apply to administration of small estates; and Section 5 of the Administrator General’s Act does not apply to applications for letters of administration under this Act.

Section 1. Application of Act Section 1(1) This Act shall be read and construed as one with the Succession Act; and where they conflict, this Act shall prevail. Section 1(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), Part V of the Succession Act shall, mutatis mutandis , apply to the administration of small intestate estates. Section 1(3) Part XXXI of the Succession Act, which relates to the practice of granting and revoking probate and letters of administration, shall not apply to the administration of small estates. Section 1(4) Section 5 of the Administrator General’s Act shall not apply to an application for letters of administration made under this Act.
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10. Probate rules

Establishes rules for regulating the practice and procedure of the magistrates courts in probate business.

Section 10. Probate rules Section for regulating the practice and procedure of the magistrates courts in probate business;
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11. Punishment for false averment in petition or declaration

Anyone who, in an application or declaration required under this Act, makes an averment they know or believe is false commits an offence and is liable to penalties for giving or fabricating false evidence.

Section 11. Punishment for false averment in petition or declaration Section If any person makes in his or her application or declaration which is required to be made or verified under this Act any averment which he or she knows or believes to be false, he or she commits an offence and is liable to the penalties provided by the law for the time being in force for the punishment of the offence of giving or fabricating false evidence.
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12. Administrator General not precluded from grant

The Administrator General may apply to the court for letters of administration and is not precluded from doing so.

Section 12. Administrator General not precluded from grant Section the Administrator General from applying to the court for letters of administration;
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2. Interpretation

Defines the terms "currency point", "Minister", and "small estate" for the Act.

Section 2. Interpretation Section In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “ currency point ” has the value assigned to it in the Schedule to this Act; “ Minister ” means the Minister to whom functions under this Act are assigned; “ small estate ” means any estate the value of which is specified in section 3(1) .
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3. Jurisdiction to grant probate or letters of administration of small estates

Magistrates have specified jurisdiction to grant probate or letters of administration for small estates (magistrate grade I up to 1,000 currency points; chief magistrate up to 2,500 currency points). Grants must be in the prescribed form under the court seal. Magistrates courts must not grant when there is contention or where the deceased had no fixed place of abode in the courts jurisdiction. The court may revoke, alter or annul grants for just cause and may rectify errors. Grants shall be revoked for want of jurisdiction if the estate is later found to exceed the declared value unless the court is satisfied beneficiaries are prejudiced. The Minister may amend magistrates jurisdiction by statutory order.

Section 3. Jurisdiction to grant probate or letters of administration of small estates Section 3(1) Notwithstanding any provision of the Succession Act or the Administrator General’s Act to the contrary, jurisdiction to grant probate or letters of administration in respect of small estates of deceased persons shall be exercised by— Section 3(1)(a) a magistrate grade I, where the total value of the estate does not exceed one thousand currency points; Section 3(1)(b) a chief magistrate, where the total value of the estate does not exceed two thousand five hundred currency points. Section 3(2) Grant of probate or letters of administration shall be made in the prescribed form under the seal of the court, and the grant shall have effect over all the property of the deceased, movable and immovable, in all parts of Uganda and shall be conclusive evidence as to the representative title against all debtors of the deceased and all persons holding property which belongs to the deceased. Section 3(3) No grant shall be made by a magistrate’s court— Section 3(3)(a) in any case in which there is contention until the contention is disposed of; Section 3(3)(b) in respect of an estate of a deceased person who at the time of his or her death had no fixed place of abode within the jurisdiction of the court. Section 3(4) The grant of probate or letters of administration may be revoked, altered or annulled for just cause, and any errors appearing in the grant of probate or letters of administration may be rectified by the court. Section 3(5) A grant of probate or letters of administration shall be revoked or annulled for want of jurisdiction if during the administration of the estate it is subsequently discovered that the total value of the estate is greater than the total value of the estate declared in an application for the grant unless the court is satisfied that the interests of the beneficiaries are thereby prejudiced. Section 3(6) The Minister may, by statutory order, amend the jurisdiction of magistrates courts under subsection (1) .
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4. Jurisdiction of High Court

The Act does not affect the High Court's jurisdiction to grant probate or letters of administration for estates of persons with no fixed abode in Uganda.

Section 4. Jurisdiction of High Court Section Nothing in this Act shall affect the jurisdiction of the High Court to grant probate or letters of administration in respect of estates of persons having no fixed place of abode in Uganda.
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5. Application for grant of probate or letters of administration

An application for the grant of probate or letters of administration must be made in the prescribed form and must contain matters prescribed.

Section 5. Application for grant of probate or letters of administration Section An application for the grant of probate or letters of administration shall be made in the prescribed form and shall contain such matters as may be prescribed.
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6. Grantee of probate or administration alone to sue

Only the holder of the grant of probate or letters of administration may sue or act as representative of the deceased.

Section 6. Grantee of probate or administration alone to sue Section After any grant of probate has or letters of administration have been made, no person other than the holder of the grant may sue or otherwise act as representative of the deceased, until the grant is revoked.
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7. Effect of payment to executor or administrator

Payments made in good faith to an executor or administrator before probate or letters of administration are revoked legally discharge the payer; an executor or administrator who acted under the revoked grant may keep and be reimbursed for such payments that a later grantee could lawfully have made.

Section 7. Effect of payment to executor or administrator Section Where any probate is or letters of administration are revoked, all payments bona fide made to any executor or administrator under the probate or administration before its revocation shall, notwithstanding the revocation, be a legal discharge to the person making the payments; and an executor or administrator who has acted under the revoked probate or administration may retain and reimburse himself or herself in respect of any payments made by him or her, which the person to whom probate or letters of administration shall be afterwards granted might have lawfully made.
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8. Appeals

Allows appeals from any order or decision of a magistrate’s court presided over by a chief magistrate or a magistrate grade I in the exercise of its original jurisdiction to the High Court.

Section 8. Appeals Section from any order or decision of a magistrate’s court presided over by a chief magistrate or a magistrate grade I in the exercise of its original jurisdiction, to the High Court;
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9. Appeals to Court of Appeal

Appeal permitted where the order or decision is contrary to law or usage having the force of law.

Section 9. Appeals to Court of Appeal Section the order or decision is contrary to law or usage having the force of law;

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Administration of Estates (Small Estates) (Special Provisions) Act

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