Wakilii

In the matter of an Application to strike out the name of Safina Nasolo (deceased) in the Probate and or Letters of Administration (Miscellaneous Application 300 of 2023)

High Court · [2024] UGHC 639 · 2024 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ex parte application to revoke grant of probate and issue fresh grant following death of executor
Decision
Fresh grant of probate issued to the applicant following revocation of the initial grant

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that a grant of probate becomes inoperative upon the death of the sole executor and must be revoked before a fresh grant can issue. Where the executor dies and the estate remains undistributed and mismanaged, the court may revoke the initial grant under Section 234(2)(d) of the Succession Act and issue a fresh grant to a fit and proper person. The biological son of the deceased, who was named as heir in the will and had family consent, was a proper person to receive the fresh grant.

Outcome

Fresh grant of probate issued to the applicant following revocation of the initial grant

Facts

Yunusu Seruli Maziwa died in 1999. His stepmother Safina Nasolo was granted probate by the High Court at Jinja in Probate Cause No. 4 of 1999. Safina Nasolo died on 21 April 2020, leaving the estate without an administrator. The applicant, Nsubuga Hassan, a biological son of the deceased and named heir in the will, alleged that since his father's death the estate property had been irregularly disposed of without the consent of all beneficiaries, and that after Safina Nasolo's death other family members had falsified documents, subdivided and sold estate land. The family met on 19 November 2023 and resolved that administration should be granted to the applicant. The applicant filed an ex parte application to revoke the grant to the deceased executor and to be granted fresh probate.

Issues

  1. Whether the grant of probate to Safina Nasolo should be revoked following her death.
  2. Whether the applicant should be granted fresh probate to administer the estate of the late Yunusu Seruli Maziwa.

Orders

  • The grant of probate to Safina Nasolo in respect of the estate of Late Yunusu Seruli Maziwa vide Jinja High Court Probate Cause No. 004 of 1999 is hereby revoked.
  • A fresh grant of probate in respect of the estate of the late Yunusu Seruli Maziwa is hereby issued to the Applicant, Nsubuga Hassan (the biological son of the deceased).
  • The application is allowed with no order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Succession & Estates — Revocation of Grants — Grant Becoming Inoperative Through Death of Executor
A grant of probate becomes inoperative when the sole executor dies, and the court may revoke it under Section 234(2)(d) of the Succession Act as amended on the ground that the grant has become useless and inoperative through circumstances.
Civil Procedure — Succession Matters — Requirement to Revoke Before Issuing Fresh Grant
Before a court grants any fresh probate or letters of administration to an estate that was previously issued with a grant, the court must first revoke the initial grant. It is an abuse of process to apply for letters of administration before revoking an earlier grant.
Succession & Estates — Fresh Grants — Criteria for Issuing Fresh Grant Upon Revocation
Under Section 234(5) of the Succession Act, a court may in the same process for revocation of letters of administration grant letters of administration to another person where the court determines that such person is a fit and proper person to be granted letters of administration.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (4)

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 to strike out the name of Safina Nasolo (deceased) in the Probate and_or Letters of Administration (Miscellaneous Application 300 of 2023) [2024] UGHC 639 (11 July 2024)
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.