Administration of Estates Act 1925

Duties, Rights, and Obligations

25 Duty of personal representative as to inventory

The personal representative of a deceased person shall, when lawfully required so to do, exhibit on oath in the court, a true and perfect inventory and account of the real and personal estate of the deceased, and the court shall have power as heretofore to require personal representatives to bring in inventories.

26 Rights of action by and against personal representative

(1) For any debt (including arrears of rent) due to a deceased person, and for any injury to or right in respect of his personal estate in his lifetime, his personal representative shall have the same right of action as the deceased would have had if alive.

(2) The personal representative of a deceased person may maintain for any injury committed to the real estate of the deceased within six months before his death any action which the deceased could have maintained, but the action must be brought within one year after his death, and any damages recovered in the action shall be part of the personal estate of the deceased.

(3) A personal representative may distrain, for arrears of a rentcharge due or accruing to the deceased in his lifetime on the land affected or charged therewith, so long as the land remains in the possession of the person liable to pay the rentcharge or of the persons deriving title under him, and in like manner as the deceased might have done had he been living.

(4) A personal representative may distrain upon land for arrears of rent due or accruing to the deceased in like manner as the deceased might have done had he been living.

Such arrears may be distrained for after the termination of the lease or tenancy as if the term or interest had not determined, if the distress is made—

(a) within six months after the termination of the lease or tenancy;

(b) during the continuance of the possession of the lessee or tenant from whom the arrears were due.

The statutory enactments relating to distress for rent apply to any distress made pursuant to this subsection.

(5) An action may be maintained against' the personal representative of a deceased person for any wrong committed by the deceased within six months before his death to another person in respect of his property, real or personal, but the action shall be brought within six months after the personal representative of the deceased has taken out representation.

Any damages recovered in the proceedings shall be payable as a simple contract debt incurred by the deceased.

(6) Nothing in this section affects any right of action conferred by the [9 & 10 Vict. c. 93.] Fatal Accidents Act, 1846, as amended by any subsequent enactment.

27 Protection of persons acting on probate or administration

(1) Every person making or permitting to be made any payment or disposition in good faith under a representation shall be indemnified and protected in so doing, notwithstanding any defect or circumstance whatsoever affecting the validity of the representation.

(2) Where a representation is revoked, all payments and dispositions made in good faith to a personal representative under the representation before the revocation thereof are a valid discharge to the person making the same; and the personal representative who acted under the revoked representation may retain and reimburse himself in respect of any payments or dispositions made by him which the person to whom representation is afterwards granted might have properly made.

28 Liability of person fraudulently obtaining or retaining estate of deceased

If any person, to the defrauding of creditors or without full valuable consideration, obtains, receives or holds any real or personal estate of a deceased person or effects the release of any debt or liability due to the, estate of the deceased, he shall be charged as executor in his own wrong to the extent of the real and personal estate received or coming to his hands, or the debt or liability released, after deducting—

(a) any debt for valuable consideration and without fraud due to him from the deceased person at the time of his death; and

(b) any payment made by him which might properly be made by a personal representative.

29 Liability of estate of personal representative

Where a person as personal representative of a deceased person (including an executor in his own wrong) wastes or converts to his own use any part of the real or personal estate of the deceased, and dies, his personal representative shall to the extent of the available assets of the defaulter be liable and chargeable in respect of such waste or conversion in the same manner as the defaulter would have been if living.

30 Provisions applicable where administration granted to nominee of the Crown

(1) Where the administration of the real and personal estate of any deceased person is granted to a nominee of the Crown (whether the Treasury Solicitor, or a person nominated by the Treasury Solicitor, or any other person), any legal proceeding by or against that nominee for the recovery of the real or personal estate, or any part or share thereof, shall be of the same character, and be instituted and carried on in the same manner, and be subject to the same rules of law and equity (including, except as otherwise provided by this Act, the rules of limitation under the statutes of limitation or otherwise), in all respects as if the administration had been granted to such nominee as one of the persons interested under this Act in the estate of the deceased.

(2) An information or other proceeding on the part of His Majesty shall not be filed or instituted, and a petition of right shall not be presented, in respect of the real or personal estate of any deceased person or any part or share thereof, or any claim thereon, except within the same time and subject to the same rules of law and equity within and subject to which a proceeding for the like purposes might be instituted by or against a. subject.

(3) The Treasury Solicitor shall not be required, when applying for or obtaining administration of the estate of a deceased person for the use or benefit of His Majesty, to deliver, nor shall the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court or the Commissioners of Inland Revenue be entitled to receive in connexion with any such application or grant of administration, any affidavit, statutory declaration, account, certificate, or other statement verified on oath; but the Treasury Solicitor shall deliver and the said Division and Commissioners respectively shall accept, in lieu thereof, an account or particulars of the estate of the deceased signed by or on behalf of the Treasury Solicitor.

(4) References in sections two, four, six and seven of the [39 & 40 Vict. c. 18.] Treasury Solicitor Act, 1876, and in subsection (3) of section three of the [10 &11 Geo. 5. c. 51.] Duchy of Lancaster Act, 1920, to " personal estate " shall include real estate.

31 Power to make rules

Provision may be made by rules of court for giving effect to the provisions of this Part of this Act so far as relates to real estate and in particular for adapting the procedure and practice on the grant of letters of administration to the case of real estate.