So what is it? It is An Act to consolidate and review the law relating to inheritance, administration
and distribution of estates of persons who are deceased, minors, persons under
curatorship, mentally incapacitated persons, certified ill and incapable of managing their own affairs, and persons absent from Lesotho without a lawful representative in Lesotho whose whereabouts are unknown; regulate wills and rights
of beneficiaries; and provide for incidental matters.
Enacted by Parliament of Lesotho.
This Act may be cited as the Administration of Estates and Inheritance
Act, 2024, and shall come into operation on the date of its publication in the
Gazette.
Having looked into the scope of application, that being the different situations and social groups to which individuals involved in and affected by the processes governing this law belong to – we now move on to discuss PART VIII – DUTIES OF EXECUTOR
Executor’s duty to make inventory
An executor shall, within 14 days of receiving letters of administration, make, subscribe and transmit to the Master, an inventory showing the value of all property belonging to the estate and, if he comes to know thereafter of any property which is not contained in any inventory lodged by him with the Master, he shall make, subscribe, and transmit to the Master an additional inventory
showing the value of all the property belonging to the estate and shall find such further security as the Master may direct under section 41.
Appraisal of assets
43. If an executor fails, within such reasonable time as the Master may prescribe, to place a value upon the assets or any portion of the assets or place such a value on the assets as does not meet with the approval of the Master, the Master may cause the value of those assets to be appraised by an impartial person or persons and the value so ascertained shall be taken to be the true value of those assets for the purpose of this Act.
Notice to creditors to lodge claims
44. (1) An executor shall, within a week of being in the office of the executor cause a notice to be published –
(a) in the Gazette;
(b) in a newspaper circulating in the district at the time of his death, in a newspaper circulating in the district where the deceased owned property;
or
(c) on the website of the judiciary or Master,
calling upon all persons having claims against the deceased or his estate to lodge the claim with that executor within such period from the date of the latest publication of the notice not being less than thirty days or more than three months, as the executor considers it proper in the particular circumstances of each case, except as provided for in section 61.
(2) All claims which would be capable of proof in case of the insolvency of the deceased’s estate shall be deemed to be claims of creditors for the purpose of this Act.
Suspension of execution against estate
45. A person who has obtained a judgment of any Court against a deceased person in his lifetime or against his executor, shall not sue or obtain any process in execution of that judgment before the expiration of the period notified in the Gazette in manner provided in section 44, and a person shall not, within six months after the grant of letters of administration, obtain any process in execution of the judgment without first obtaining an order of the Court.
Executor’s duty to pay debts
46. (1) On the expiry of the period of seven days set out in section 44, the executor shall satisfy himself as to the solvency of the estate before paying any debts of the deceased other than the reasonable expenses of the funeral and last illness.
(2) If the estate is solvent, the executor shall pay the creditors as soon as the funds sufficient for that purpose have been realized out of the estate, but subject always to the provisions of section 63.
(3) If the estate is insolvent, the executor shall administer and distribute the estate in such a manner as the Master may direct, with due regard being had to the rights of creditors.
(4) If the Master is not satisfied with the value of the assets of the estate, the executor shall, immediately report, in writing, the position of the estate to the creditors, informing them that, he shall proceed to realize the estate and distribute the assets of the estate as if he were a trustee distributing an insolvent estate, unless a majority in number and value of all the creditors instruct him, in writing, to surrender the estate.
(5) Subsections (2), (3) and (4) shall not apply, unless all the creditors instruct the executor within a reasonable time, to surrender the estate, and, if the creditors do not instruct him, he shall proceed so to realize and distribute the estate, but nothing in this section shall prevent a creditor from applying to the Court for the sequestration of the insolvent estate, and the Court may order
the sequestration, if satisfied that this will be for the benefit of the creditors generally.
(6) For the purpose of this section, an insolvent estate of a deceased person, where there are secured claims or in respect of which specific security is held, shall, as nearly as is possible, be dealt with in a manner in which insolvent claims are dealt with.
(7) An executor distributing an estate pursuant to subsection (3) shall
advertise his account, and –
(a) the account shall be confirmed by the Master; and
(b) the confirmation shall be given effect as if it were an account framed by a trustee of an insolvent estate.
Having shared the processes surrounding inventories, particularly
Inventory of estate in community of property by surviving spouse within
sixty days of the death, be ready for the next issue as we then discuss, Liability of executor
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