Wakilii

In Re - Estate of Pushottam Somabhai Patel (Probate and Administration Cause No. 70 of 1937)

East African Court of Appeal · [1940] EACA 49 · 1940 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application under section 79 of the Probate and Administration Act, 1881 for assignment of administration bond
Decision
Administration bond assigned to creditor applicant on condition of providing security

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that it will assign an administration bond under section 79 of the Probate and Administration Act, 1881 where a prima facie case of breach is established. The Court will not assign a bond solely for failure to file accounts unless legal steps have first been taken to compel filing, and will not assign if the application is frivolous or vexatious. Here, the administrator failed to file accounts and permitted foreign assets to be paid to his brother without accounting. A prima facie breach was established and the bond was assigned.

Outcome

Administration bond assigned to creditor applicant on condition of providing security

Facts

The administrator obtained letters of administration in September 1937. The applicant, a creditor owed Sh. 2,367, applied for assignment of the administration bond on grounds that the administrator failed to file accounts despite demands and failed to collect foreign assets. Specifically, the administrator's brother received Rs. 2,000 from the Reliance Assurance Society in India, which was shown as an estate asset in the Estate Duty affidavit but was not accounted for. The administrator was in India and had been there for some years. The surety to the bond was also the administrator's duly constituted attorney and was served in that dual capacity.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court should assign an administration bond where the administrator has failed to file accounts as required by law.
  2. Whether a prima facie case of breach of the administration bond has been established.
  3. Whether service on the attorney of the administrator is sufficient where the administrator is abroad.

Orders

  • The administration bond is assigned to the petitioner as prayed.
  • The petitioner is to give security to the satisfaction of the Registrar in a bond with one or more sureties to account to the Court for any sum recovered under the bond.
  • The bond is to be for Sh. 4,000.
  • Question of costs stood over generally pending decision of suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Succession & Estates — Administration Bonds — Assignment — Conditions for Assignment
The Court will not assign an administration bond on the ground of breach of the condition to file an account unless the applicant or other interested party has previously taken legal steps to compel the administrator to file an account, and even if that has been done without success, the Court will not assign the bond if the application is clearly frivolous and vexatious.
Succession & Estates — Administration Bonds — Assignment — Prima Facie Case of Breach
The Court will exercise its discretion to assign an administration bond if a prima facie case of breach of the bond is made out.
Succession & Estates — Administration Bonds — Assignment — Standard of Proof
Under section 79 of the Probate and Administration Act, 1881, the Court does not decide whether there has been an actual breach of the bond but exercises its discretion by seeing that the application is bona fide, that a prima facie case is made out, and that the applicant is the proper person to whom the bond should be assigned.
Civil Procedure — Service of Process — Service on Agent
Under Order 5, rule 11, service on an agent empowered to accept service is sufficient service on the principal, including where the agent is the attorney of an administrator who is abroad.

Legislation cited (3)

Cases cited (5)

  • Young v Skelton (162 E.R. 1342)
  • In the goods of Young (1 P & D. 186)
  • Crowley and Sharman v Chipp and Tubb (163 E.R. 160)
  • Barker v Brooks (164 E.R. 1183)
  • Sandrey v Mitchell (164 E.R. 1180)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

In Re - Estate of Pushottam Somabhai Patel (Probate and Administration Cause No. 70 of 1937) [1940] EACA 49 (1 January 1940)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.