PROBATES.
No. 2 of 1897.
817
17.-(1) When any person dies leaving a will within the Colony, the person in whose keeping such will has been deposited, or who finds such will after the testator's death, shall produce it, and, if required, shall deliver the same to the Official Administrator within fourteen days after the death of the testator, or from the time when he has had notice thereof, or from the time of the finding of the will, as the case may be.
(2) Every person who refuses or neglects to comply with the requirements of this section shall upon summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
18. From and after the decease of any person dying intestate and until administration is granted in respect of his estate, the estate of such deceased person shall be vested in the Official Administrator.
19. When the whole estate of any person dying intestate in the Colony does not, in the opinion of the Official Administrator, exceed in value the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, it shall be lawful for the Official Administrator, if he thinks fit, without any legal formality, to receive or take possession of such estate and to administer the same in a summary manner for the benefit of all persons interested therein.
*
20.-(1) On application made by the Official Administrator, the court shall, unless it sees good reason to the contrary, grant to him administration in any of the following cases:--
(a) where a person dying intestate, whether in this Colony or elsewhere, has left property situate in the Colony and no next of kin of such person are resident in the Colony;
(b) where a person dying intestate, whether in this Colony or elsewhere, has left property situate in the Colony and the next of kin of such person who are resident in the Colony file in the Registry of the court a request for or consent to the making of such grant, in writing signed by them;
(c) where a person dying intestate, whether in this Colony or elsewhere, has left property situate in the Colony and no person has, within twelve months after the death of such person, obtained administration of his estate;
* As amended by No. 16 of 1915.
† As amended by Law Am. Ord., 1923.