Administration of Estates Act 1971

Rights and duties of personal representatives in England and Wales U.K.

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1 U.K.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 8 repealed by Supreme Court Act 1981 (c. 54, SIF 37), s. 152(4), Sch. 7

9 Duties of personal representatives. E+W

For section 25 of the M1 Administration of Estates Act 1925 (duty of personal representatives as to inventory and account) there shall be substituted the following section:— “Duty of personal representatives.

The personal representative of a deceased person shall be under a duty to—

(a) collect and get in the real and personal estate of the deceased and administer it according to law;

(b) when required to do so by the court, exhibit on oath in the court a full inventory of the estate and when so required render an account of the administration of the estate to the court;

(c) when required to do so by the High Court, deliver up the grant of probate or administration to that court.”

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 The text of ss. 7, 9, and 12(1) is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991.

Marginal Citations

M1 1925 c. 23.

10 Retainer, preference and the payment of debts by personal representatives. E+W

(1) The right of retainer of a personal representative and his right to prefer creditors are hereby abolished.

(2) Nevertheless a personal representative—

(a) other than one mentioned in paragraph (b) below, who, in good faith and at a time when he has no reason to believe that the deceased’s estate is insolvent, pays the debt of any person (including himself) who is a creditor of the estate; or

(b) to whom letters of administration had been granted solely by reason of his being a creditor and who, in good faith and at such a time pays the debt of another person who is a creditor of the estate;

shall not, if it subsequently appears that the estate is insolvent, be liable to account to a creditor of the same degree as the paid creditor for the sum so paid.