Debts (Deceased Servicemen etc) Act 1893

Supplemental ProvisionsU.K.

11†Disposal of medals and decorations.U.K.

. . . . F1 decorations shall not be considered to be comprised in the personal estate of the deceased with reference to the claims of creditors or for any of the purposes of administration under this Act or otherwise; and, notwithstanding anything in this or any other Act, the same, when secured by the committee of adjustment, shall be held and disposed of according to regulations laid down by royal warrant.

12 Disposal of effects not money.U.K.

Where any part of the personal estate of the deceased consists of effects, securities, or other property not converted into money, the provisions of this Act with respect to paying or remitting the surplus shall, save as may be prescribed, extend to the delivery, transmission, or transfer of such effects, securities, or property, and the paymaster and Secretary of State shall respectively have the same power of converting the same into money as the representative of the deceased.

13 Regulations by royal warrant.U.K.

(1)Her Majesty the Queen may, by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual, make regulations for all such things as are by this Act directed or authorised to be prescribed or made subject to regulations, and also such regulations as may seem fit for the better execution of this Act, or any part thereof; and may by such regulations make different provisions to meet different cases or different circumstances.

(2)Every royal warrant made under this Act shall be printed by the Queen’s printer, and published under the authority of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, and laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may be after the making thereof.

14 Restriction on interposition of official administrators.U.K.

(1)An official administrator, notwithstanding any law regulating his office independently of this Act, shall not interpose in any manner in relation to any property of a person dying while subject to [F2service law], except in the prescribed cases, or except when and so far as he is expressly required to do so by a committee of adjustment, or paymaster, or Secretary of State.

(2)The committee of adjustment in such cases, under such circumstances, and at such times as may be prescribed, may request an official administrator, to exercise his official powers either on behalf of the committee or otherwise, and the administrator shall comply with the request. The Committee may also lodge any property secured or collected by them with any official administrator.

(3)Where under this Act any property comes to the hands of any official administrator, he shall administer the same as regards preferential charges and otherwise in accordance with this Act, and, subject thereto, according to the law regulating his office independently of this Act.

(4)The official administrator shall remit any surplus remaining in his hands after discharge of all debts and his charges to the Secretary of State at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed, to be disposed of according to the provisions of this Act as if remitted by a paymaster.

(5)An official administrator shall not take a percentage on the property exceeding three per cent. on the gross amount coming to or remaining in his hands after payment of preferential charges.

15 Money remitted not to be assets in place where remitted to.U.K.

Any property coming under this Act to the hands of any committee of adjustment or paymaster shall not, by reason of so coming, be deemed assets or effects at the place in which that committee or paymaster is stationed or resides, and it shall not be necessary by reason thereof that representation be taken out in respect of that property for that place.

16 Duty and representation where sums under 100l.U.K.

Where any surplus or residue, as the case may be, does not exceed one hundred pounds no duty shall be payable in the United Kingdom . . . . . . F3 in respect thereof, and it shall not be necessary that representation to any deceased person be taken out for the purpose of obtaining payment thereof or of any part thereof under this Act from a paymaster or a Secretary of State, except in any prescribed case, or in any case where the Secretary of State requires it.

17 Discharge of paymaster and Secretary of State.U.K.

Compliance with the regulations under this Act with respect to the mode of payment of any surplus or residue or any part thereof to any person (whether by transmission or remission to another place or person or otherwise) shall discharge the Secretary of State or paymaster or other person complying with the regulations, and he shall not be liable by reason of the surplus or residue or part which may be in his hands having been paid, transmitted, remitted, or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the regulations.

18 Validity of payments, sales, &c., under this Act.U.K.

Every payment, application, sale, or other disposition of property made by the Secretary of State, or by any committee of adjustment, or by any paymaster, when acting in execution or supposed execution of this Act, or of any royal warrant for carrying this Act into effect, shall be valid as against all persons whomsoever; and the Secretary of State, and every officer belonging to any such committee, and every such paymaster as aforesaid shall, by virtue of this Act, be absolutely discharged from all liability in respect of the property so paid applied, sold, or disposed of.

19 Saving for rights of representative.U.K.

After the committee of adjustment have lodged with the paymaster the surplus of the property of any deceased person, any representative of that person and any official administrator shall, as regards any property of a deceased person not collected by the committee of adjustment and not forming part of the surplus or residue in this Act mentioned, have the same rights and duties as if this Act had not passed.

20 Creditor administering not entitled to claim property.U.K.

A creditor, as such, shall not be deemed a person entitled to take out representation to the deceased within the meaning of this Act or to pay or secure the preferential charges; nor shall a creditor taking out representation be entitled as representative of the deceased to claim from a paymaster or the Secretary of State any part of the property of the deceased.

21 Deposit in court of probate, &c., of original wills in hands of Secretary of State, and declaration of intestacy. U.K.

(1)Where any original will of a person dying while subject to [F2service law], whether he died before or after the commencement of this Act, comes to the hands of a Secretary of State, and representation under the same is not taken out, then the Secretary of State may cause the same to be deposited as follows:

(a)Where the domicile of the testator appears to the Secretary of State to have been in Scotland, then in the office of the commissary clerk of the commissary court of the county of Edinburgh:

(b)Where the domicile of the testator appears to the Secretary of State to have been in Ireland, then in the place for the time being appointed in Dublin for the deposit of original wills brought into the High Court in Ireland:

(c)In any other case, in the place for the time being appointed in London for the deposit of original wills brought into the High Court in England.

(2)Where a person dies while subject to [F2service law] intestate, and under this Act any residue of his property comes to the hands of the Secretary of State, and representation to the deceased is not taken out, then the Secretary of State may, if it seems fit, cause a declaration of his intestacy to be deposited in the place or office where his original will (if any) would be deposited as aforesaid.

(3)In every such case the Secretary of State may cause to be deposited, together with the original will or declaration of intestacy, an inventory showing the personal property of the deceased, and the application thereof, as far as the same is known.

(4)Every such original will, declaration of intestacy, and inventory shall be preserved and dealt with, and may be inspected, subject and according to the same rules or orders and on payment of the same fees as any other like documents deposited in that office or place, or subject and according to such other rules or orders and on payment of such other fees, as may be made or fixed in that behalf by the court, judge, or other authority empowered to make rules or orders in relation to other documents deposited in the same place or office.