The Administrator-General relies on the relatives to report the death of persons who have died intestate leaving minor children. Once the report is received in the form of a completed Particulars Required for the Administrator-General, the Administrator-General, like other Personal Representatives, will:

1. Investigate and confirm the assets of the deceased:

This involves:

1. Liaison with financial institutions holding cash assets for the deceased, mortgage companies, employers in respect of employment benefits and National Housing Trust.
   
   
2. Securing original title documents and certified copy Death Certificate. Relevant documents include:
   
   
   1. Original Duplicate Certificate of Title for registered land;
      
   2. Conveyances for unregistered land;
      
   3. Purchase receipts and agreement for sale (where title was not issued to the deceased);
      
   4. Bank Passbooks;
      
   5. Original Insurance Policy Contracts; and
      
   6. Certificate of Title, Fitness and Registration for motor vehicles.
      
      
2. Apply for the grant of Letters of Administration from the relevant Court:
   
   The grant of administration is the authorizing document that allows the Administrator-General to collect, transfer, sell or otherwise deal with the assets of the deceased. In order to make the application to the Court, the following must be in place: 

1. Proof of the deceased’s death in the form of a certified copy Death Certificate or Affidavit in Proof of Death completed by a person who was acquainted with the deceased and attended his funeral.
   
   
2. Funds to stamp the documents to be lodged in the Court. If the application is being made in the Supreme Court, the stamping cost is approximately 3% of the net value of the assets and $2,000.00 to stamp the Oath of Administrator. Under the 1999 amendment to the Administrator-General’s Act, the Administrator-General is empowered to request the release of funds from institutions holding assets for the estate, prior to the grant of Administration, to meet the cost associated with this application or to assist beneficiaries.

Applications are filed in the Resident Magistrate’s Court in the parish where the deceased had his last fixed place of residence, if the value of the estate does not exceed $1,500,000.00. The stamping cost in the Resident Magistrate’s Court is minimal. If the value exceeds $1,500,000.00, the application must be filed in the Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica.

The normal Course of Administration

Once a grant of Administration is issued by the relevant Court, the Administrator-General (like other administrators) has the following duties:

3. To collect assets and pay debts.
   
   1. The Personal Representative forwards the original or certified copy of the grant of Letters of Administration issued by the Court to every institution or person holding assets or titles to assets for the deceased and request the release thereof to him/her.
      
      
   2. It is mandatory that an advertisement be placed in the newspaper inviting creditors of the estate to come forward and substantiate their claim before the expiration of six (6) weeks. Once these claims are properly substantiated and accepted by the Personal Representative, the debts have to be settled before any distribution of assets to beneficiaries can take place. If sufficient cash assets are not available to settle legitimate claims, then the Personal Representative may have to invoke her power of sale and sell real properties to meet these debts.
      
      
   3. Of crucial importance are statutory debts. Once the assets of the deceased include real property, shares and stocks, these are subject to the payment of transfer tax on death. Transfer tax on death is approximately 15% of the value of these assets (with allowance being made to offset funeral expenses and mortgage debts). If not paid within a year of the death of the deceased, the outstanding transfer tax attracts interest at the rate of 6% per annum until it is paid. Transfer tax has to be settled before the Personal Representative can seek to sell or transfer these assets. Provisions are made for certain eligible classes of relatives to seek an exemption from transfer tax on land, where the property was the principal place of residence of the deceased and the applicant at the time of death (or the matrimonial home, where the spouse is the applicant).

   It should also be pointed out that all administrators and executors are entitled to a commission of 6% from the estate for their services, which is also paid before distribution of the assets to beneficiaries, as well as Attorney’s fees.

4. Management, investment and preservation of assets until all minors attain the age of majority:
   
   This duty is particularly applicable to the Administrator-General, but also relates to Executors who may have been appointed trustee under the will of the deceased of minor children.

   After claims are settled, the Administrator-General has this function before distribution simply because the estates under her purview contain minor beneficiaries, which preclude final distribution until the last minor attains majority. As such the Administrator-General has the additional duty to maintain, insure and raise rental income from real property (link to property information here); to invest funds prudently (link to investment information here) and to assist with the educational, medical and other crucial expenses of the minor beneficiaries, from 50% of their capital entitlement during their minority. Where, for instance, the deceased was a majority shareholder in a company, it may involve the Administrator-General being registered as a shareholder in respect of the deceased’s share, attending general meetings of the company and playing such roles as are necessary in order to preserve the value of the shares for the beneficiaries.

5. To distribute to beneficiaries:
   
   For the Administrator-General, once the last minor attains the age of majority and all debts are settled, the estate is ready to be wound up. The Administrator-General will require proof of relationship for all beneficiaries before distribution. This proof can take the form of certified copy Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Paternity and Spouseship Orders or even Affiliation Orders. “I WANT TO…prove my relationship

At this stage of distribution, a final statement of account will be produced detailing all income and expenditure, arriving at the amount due to each beneficiary as per their entitlement under the Intestates’ Estates and Property Charges Act (Please see Table of Distribution below). The necessary documents to allow for a transfer of real property and shares are executed by the Personal Representative and the beneficiaries and title is passed to the beneficiaries. Once the beneficiary signs the statement of account signifying his approval of its contents, a cheque is prepared and tendered to the beneficiary in accordance with the manner indicated by him for disbursement, such as deposit in a bank account or by registered mail.

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION

Where the deceased died leaving the following class of persons, the residuary estate is passed to the beneficiaries in the stated proportions:

Spouse: For the purpose of succession, a spouse includes an unmarried person who cohabited with the deceased for a period of not less than five (5) years immediately before the date of his/her death. In addition to the significant portion of the residuary estate allotted to a spouse, he/she is also entitled to all personal chattels absolutely (provided they were not being used by the deceased in the course of his business). Personal chattels include, inter alia, motor vehicles, jewellery, painting and furniture. The spouse is further entitled to $10,000.00 or 1/10 of the net estate (whichever is greater), as an absolute interest, with interest thereon at a rate of 10% until paid.

HOW LONG DOES THE ADMINISTRATION PROCESS TAKE?

As you will note from the above, estates being administered by the Administrator-General can take up to 19 years to be fully administered where the deceased was survived by a child under 1 year old at the time of his death. On attainment of the age of 18, the Administrator-General will move to distribute the assets. The necessary processes involved in the transfer of properties can take an additional year to be finalized.

Click here for the Checklist for: Documents required for the processing of Estates