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- Question:
What is the function of the AGD?
Answer: The Administrator-General
(AG) who is mandated to act under the Administrator
General’s Act is the head of the Administrator-General’s
Department (AGD). The AGD was created in 1873.
The primary function of the AG is to administer the
assets of intestate estates. That is, the estate of
persons who died leaving no Will. The AG has to determine
the liabilities payable by the estate and has responsibility
to ascertain, collect, manage and distribute the assets
of the estates in accordance with the laws of intestacy
to beneficiaries who have proven their relationship
to the deceased or to the Crown where the matter falls
as Bona Vacantia i.e. there are no lawful
relatives of the deceased.
The
AG acts in cases where:
i) there are minors (persons under 18 years old) involved
in the estate.*
ii) he/she is appointed Executor by the testator (i.e.
the person making the Will);
iii) no Executor is appointed in the Will of the deceased;
iv) one or more Executors are named in the Will but
they are dead or have renounced,
that is, refused to act.
v) a person dies without leaving any lawful descendants
– Bona Vacantia;
*
Where there are only adult beneficiaries in an estate
capable of looking after their own interests, the
AG is not mandated to act. Recent amendments to the
Administrator-General’s Act in 1999 allow the
AG to notify adult beneficiaries who are in disagreement
of their right to apply to the Court for an Order
naming any of them or someone else as the person who
may apply for a grant of representation (Letters of
Administration). The person so named may then make
the application.
- Question:
What is Letters of Administration
and why is it necessary?
Answer: Letters
of Administration is a legal document issued by the
Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica or the Resident
Magistrate’s Court. It empowers the person to
whom it is granted to act on behalf of the deceased
and administer his/her estate.
[INSERT SPECIMEN LA HERE]
A
person may die testate (i.e. leaving a Will) or intestate
(i.e. leaving no Will). Where he/she dies testate,
he may have appointed one or more Executors in the
Will. That person(s) has the responsibility to obtain
a grant of Probate (similar
document to Letters of Administration) and is then
considered the legal personal representative of the
deceased.
If
a person dies leaving a Will but naming no Executor,
the person who seeks to administer the estate of the
deceased, will need to obtain Letters
of Administration with Will Annexed.
Where
he/she dies without leaving a Will, the person who
will act to administer the deceased’s estate
has to obtain a grant of Letters of Administration.
The
person to whom a grant of Probate or grant of Letters
of Administration is given by the Court has the legal
authority to collect and distribute the assets of
the deceased to the devisees/beneficiaries of the
estate.
- Question:
Can I obtain a Death Certificate for the deceased
through the AGD?
Answer:
No. The department with authority to issue
a Death Certificate is the Registrar General’s
Department. That department also has responsibility
to register all births and marriages.
They are located at:
Twickenham Park
St. Catherine
Jamaica W.I.
Website: www.rgd.gov.jm
The Death Certificate of the deceased is a very important
document and a certified copy of same must be submitted
to the AGD as soon as possible after the matter has
been reported to the Department. A photocopy of the
Death Certificate that is signed by a Notary Public/Justice
of the Peace/Commissioner of Oaths cannot be used
by the Department.
- Question:
How do I prove my relationship to the deceased?
Answer:
The requisite documents for proof of relationship
to a deceased person depends on the particular relationship.
A widow/widower of the deceased needs
to furnish proof of the marriage. This is done by
submitting to the AGD a certified copy of the Marriage
Certificate.
It is necessary that a Common Law Spouse
make an application to the Court for a Declaration
that he or she be considered the spouse of the deceased.
In order to support such an application, the applicant
must have been living with the deceased for five (5)
years immediately preceding the date of his/her death
and must have been a single man or single woman as
the case may be.
A
child of the deceased needs to prove paternity.
This is done by submitting to the AGD a certified
copy of the Birth Certificate of the child. If the
father’s name is endorsed thereon, this is sufficient
proof of paternity. If it is the mother who is deceased,
the endorsement of her name on the Birth Certificate
is equally sufficient.
Where the father’s name is not on the Birth
Certificate of the child, the following are the means
of proof of paternity:
a) A form filled in by both parents
establishing paternity and signed in the presence
of a Justice of the Peace, Clerk of the Court, Registered
Medical Practitioner, Minister
of Religion, Marriage Officer or Midwife; OR
b) An Affiliation Order made in any Court; OR
c) Declaration of Paternity made by the Family Court
of Supreme Court (for the
purpose of succession, the Declaration should state
that paternity was established
during the lifetime of the father).
A brother/sister
needs to submit their Birth Certificate with name
of the parent of the deceased endorsed thereon.
A grandchild has
to forward to the AGD the Death Certificate of their
deceased parent and their Birth Certificate with the
name of the deceased parent endorsed thereon.
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