Wakilii

In the Matter of an Application for letters of Administration without a will annexed by Nasajje and 3 Others (Miscellaneous Application 105 of 2022) [

High Court · [2023] UGHCFD 105 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ex parte application for revocation of letters of administration and removal of deceased administrator's name from grant
Decision
Application dismissed for failure to prove death of co-administrator

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for revocation of letters of administration dismissed where applicants failed to prove the death of a co-administrator. Although Section 234(2)(d) of the Succession Act permits revocation where a grant has become inoperative through circumstances, the burden rests on applicants under Section 101(1) of the Evidence Act to prove the facts asserted. The applicants referenced but did not attach the death certificate of the deceased co-administrator, failing to satisfy the court of the basis for revocation.

Outcome

Application dismissed for failure to prove death of co-administrator

Facts

Letters of administration for the estate of the late Bwami Kyengera Hamani were granted jointly to four applicants and Ssebugwawo Nasu. K on 22 October 2010. The applicants deposed that Ssebugwawo Nasu. K died on 26 July 2012, rendering the grant inoperative. A family meeting held on 16 August 2022 resolved to remove the deceased administrator's name from the grant. The applicants sought revocation of the original grant and issuance of fresh letters of administration to the four surviving administrators, claiming they needed to transfer properties from the deceased's name. The applicants referenced a death certificate in their affidavits but failed to attach it to their application.

Issues

  1. Whether the Letters of Administration vide Administration Cause No. HCT-12-CV-AC-0091-2009 can be revoked on grounds that one of the joint administrators has died

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • No orders as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Revocation of Grants — Burden of Proof — Death of Co-Administrator
Where applicants seek revocation of letters of administration on the ground that a co-administrator has died, they bear the burden under Section 101(1) of the Evidence Act to prove the death by producing satisfactory evidence such as a death certificate; failure to produce such evidence is fatal to the application.
Revocation of Grants — Section 234 Succession Act — Inoperative Grant
Under Section 234(2)(d) of the Succession Act, a grant of letters of administration may be revoked where it has become useless and inoperative through circumstances, but the court must be satisfied by evidence that such circumstances exist before exercising its discretion to revoke.
Misquotation of Legal Provisions — Substantive Justice — Article 126(2)(e)
A misquotation of the legal provision under which an application is brought does not automatically defeat the application where the court can administer substantive justice without undue regard to technicalities under Article 126(2)(e) of the Constitution, provided no injustice is caused by the misquotation.

Legislation cited (7)

Cases cited (2)

  • In the Matter of an Application for Revocation of Letters of Administration (HCMA No. 0053 of 2016)
  • The Goods of William Loveday [1900] P 154

Full judgment

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

In the Matter of an Application for letters of Administration without a will annexed by Nasajje and 3 Others (Miscellaneous Application 105 of 2022) [
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.