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1. This Ordinance may be cited as the British Courts
Probates (Resealing) Ordinance.
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2. The District Court of Colombo or the District Court having jurisdiction over the place where-
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(a) the Ceylon estate or any part of the Ceylon estate of the deceased person is situate, or
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(b) the executor or administrator, or the attorney of the executor or administrator, of that part of the estate of the deceased person which is being administered outside Ceylon is resident,
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Resealing in Ceylon of probates and letters of administration granted outside Ceylon.
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3. Where a court of probate in any part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories or a British court in a foreign country has, either before or after the date on which this Ordinance comes into operation, granted probate or letters of administration in respect of the estate of a deceased person, the probate or letters so granted may, on being produced to, and a copy thereof deposited with a competent court, be sealed with the seal of that court, and thereupon shall be of like force and effect, and have the same operation in Ceylon as if granted by that court.
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Conditions to be fulfilled before sealing.
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4. The court shall, before sealing a probate or letters of administration under this Ordinance, be satisfied-
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(a) that testamentary duty has been paid or secured in respect of so much, if any, of the estate as is liable to testamentary duty in Ceylon ; and
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is liable to testamentary duty in Ceylon ; and (b) in the case of letters of administration, that security has been given in a sum sufficient in amount to cover the property, if any, in Ceylon to which the letters of administration relate ;
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Security for payment of debts.
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5. The court may also, if it thinks fit, on the application of any creditor, require, before sealing, that adequate security be given for the payment of debts due from the estate to creditors residing in Ceylon.
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Duplicate or copy of probate or letters of administration.
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6. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a duplicate of any probate or letters of administration sealed with the seal of the court granting the same, or a copy thereof certified as correct by or under the authority of the court granting the same, shall have the same effect as the original.
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Certain duties and liabilities of an executor or administrator under the Civil Procedure Code not affected.
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7. The sealing of a probate or letters of administration under section 3 shall not affect the liability of an executor or administrator-
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(a) to file, within a time appointed by the court, an inventory of the deceased person’s property and effects situated in Ceylon, with a valuation of the same as required by section 538 of the Civil Procedure Code ;
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(b) to file, on or before the expiration of twelve months from the date of such sealing, a true account, as regards the deceased’s property and effects situated in Ceylon, of his executor-ship or administration, as the case may be, verified on oath or affirmation, with all receipts and vouchers attached, as required by section 553 of the said Code ;
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(c) to be compelled to make a judicial settlement of his account as executor or administrator, with respect to the deceased’s property situated in Ceylon, under the provisions of Chapter LV of the said Code.
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Construction of certain references in Civil Procedure Code and Stamp Ordinance relating to probate and letters of administration.
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8. For the purposes of all estates to which this Ordinance applies-
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(a) all references in the Civil Procedure Code to any court as being the court from which grant of probate or letters of administration issued shall be construed as references to the court by which the probate or letters of administration have been sealed under this Ordinance, and all references to the grant of probate or letters of administration or to an order absolute declaring a person entitled to such grant shall be construed as referring to the sealing of probate or letters of administration under this Ordinance ; and
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(b) all references in the Stamp Ordinance to the grant of probate or letters of administration shall be deemed to include a reference to the sealing of probate or letters of administration under this Ordinance, and all references to probate or letters of administration shall be deemed to include a reference to any probate or letters of administration or to any duplicate or certified copy thereof sealed under this Ordinance.
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9.
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(1) It shall be competent for the Judges of the Supreme Court, or any three of them, of whom the Chief Justice shall be one, to frame rules of court for regulating the procedure and practice, including fees costs, of and incidental to an application for sealing a probate or letters of administration under this Ordinance.
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(2) The matters for which rules may be framed under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be added to the list of matters for which rules may be framed, constituted and established under section 49 of the Courts Ordinance ; and the provisions of that section of that Ordinance shall apply accordingly to any rules of court framed for the purposes of this Ordinance.
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10. In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
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” British court in a foreign country” means any British court having jurisdiction out of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories in pursuance of an Order of Her Majesty in Council, whether made under any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or otherwise ;
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” competent court” means a District Court designated as a competent court under section 2 ;
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” court of probate ” means any court or authority by whatever name designated, having jurisdiction in matters of probate ;
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” Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories” includes any British protectorate or protected state and any territory in respect of which a man- date on behalf of the League of Nations has been accepted by Her Majesty ;
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” probate ” and ” letters of administration ” include confirmation in Scotland, and any instrument having in any part of Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories the same effect which under English law is given to probate and letters of administration respectively ;
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“testamentary duty” includes estate duty and any duty payable on the value of the estate and effects for which probate or letters of administration is or are granted.
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