Schedule of property to be annexed to Probate.
Penalty.
Penalties
for inter- meddling, &c.
Disclosure
of interest of deceased
persou in shop, bank, &c.
Executor's accounts.
Power to reduce penalty.
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18.—(1.) A schedule of the property of a deceased person in respect of which estate duty has been paid shall Any be annexed to the Probate granted to his executor. person who shall, subsequent to the date of a Probate, in any way deal with any property of the deceased not set out in the said schedule upon which estate duty is payable shall forfeit the sum of $500, which sum shall be a debt due to the Crown and he recoverable in the same way as Crown rents may be recovered.
(2.) Whenever a further affidavit is delivered under see- tion 18 sub-section (2) the Probate in respect of which such affidavit is delivered shall be lodged with the Com- missioner who shall insert in the schedule particulars of the additional property set out in the said affidavit.
19.-(1) No person shall take possession of or in any way administer any part of an estate of a deceased person in respect of which estate duty is leviable or of the income of any part of such estate without delivering an affidavit for the Commissioner or an account (as the case may be) within 6 months after the decease or within 2 mouths after the termination of any action or proceeding respect- ing the Will or the right to Letters of Administration, if there be any such which is not ended within 4 months after such decease.
(2.) From and after the decease of any person no person shall, except for the purpose of the burial of the deceased and for the due maintenance of his family, take possession of or in any way administer any part of his estate without having first notified the Commissioner of the death of the deceased and of the extent of his estate so far as he is aware of the same.
(3.) Any person contravening any of the provisious of this section shall forfeit $2,000, which sum shall be a debt due to the Crown and be recoverable in the same way as Crown rents may he recovered.
20.-(1.) Where a deceased person had, at the date of his death, any interest, whether as partner, depositor, or creditor in any shop, bank or other business undertaking within the Colony, not being a company as defined by the Companies Ordinance, 1911, or a company, association or partnership formed under or in pursuance of some other Ordinance, or Act, or of a Charter of Incorporation, or of Letters Patent, the person having the management of such shop, bank or other business undertaking shall, within one month from the date on which he first received information of the death of such deceased person, notify the Commis- sioner of such death and of the extent of the interest of the deceased in the said shop, bank or other business undertaking, and in default of such notification as aforesaid the owner, or if more than one, each of the joint owners of the shop, bank or other business undertaking shall forfeit the sum of $500, which sum shall be a debt due to the Crown and be reco- verable in the same way as Crown rents may be recovered.
(2.) In any proceedings for the recovery of the penalty.. prescribed by sub-section (1) the onus of proving that he has not rendered himself liable to the penalty shall be upon the person from whom it is sought to recover it.
21. At any time or times after the expiration of 6 months from the date of the Probate it shall be lawful for the Commissioner, by notice in writing sent to an executor at his last known address, to require him to lodge with the Commissioner an account of his administration of the estate of the deceased, and the executor shall, within 2 months from the date of the receipt of such notice, lodge the said account with the Commissioner and shall verify the same to his satisfaction within the further period of one month, and in default the executor shall, on summary convictiou, be personally liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months, unless he can prove to the satisfaction of the Magistrate that his default was due to circumstances not under his control.
22. The Commissioner, or, in any proceeding for the recovery of any penalty to which any person is liable under this Ordinance, the Court, shall have power to reduce any penalty to which any person is liable under this Ordinance.
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