J20.—(1) If, on the death of any person who is or has been an officer of the Authority, there is due to him or his legal personal representatives from the Authority a sum not exceeding £5,000 and not being a pension, allowance or gratuity payable by virtue of section 7 of the Superannuation Act 1972(1), the Authority may, without requiring the production of probate or letters of administration of the estate of the officer, pay the whole or any part of that sum to the officer’s personal representatives or to the person, or to or among any one or more of any persons, appearing to the Authority to be beneficially entitled to the estate of the officer, and any person to whom such a payment is made, and not the Authority, shall be liable to account for the sum paid to him under this paragraph.
(2) The Authority may, if it thinks fit, pay out of the said sum the funeral expenses of the officer or so much thereof as it considers reasonable.
(3) Paragraph (1) above shall be included among the provisions with respect to which the Treasury may make an order under section 6(1) of the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965(2), substituting for the references to £500 references to such higher amount as may be specified in the order.