The Administrator-General and Public Trustee of Lagos State, Mrs. Cecilia Odumosu, recently spoke on the challenges of administration of estates in Lagos State. She raises a number of salient issues in her presentation belowIntroductionThis workshop is timely because of the importance attached to the administration of justice by the present administration in Lagos State.Concerted effort is made to attain and remain a force to be reckoned with in the delivery of justice to all in Nigeria and particularly Lagos State.The intendment of this workshop is to create awareness to the public and Legal Practitioners of the powers and duties of the Administrator General & Public Trustee, in the administration of the estates of deceased persons particularly intestate estates, succession to real and personal estates, comparative analysis of the Office of the Administrator General & Public Trustee with that of other jurisdictions, wills and the administration of Trusts in Lagos State.The intention of this paper is to give an overview of the duties, powers and challenges of the Administrator General & Public Trustee, Lagos State in the administration of intestate estates.It is an established principle that a grant of probate, where there are proven Executors, or grant of Letters of Administration, where there are no proven Executors, is required with respect to all estates which include realty or chattels for the proper and effective administration of deceaseds estates.Where there is no Will, and the decease estate is unrepresented within a month, the Administrator General is empowered by law to take over the administration of the estate in order to preserve and protect the deceaseds estate. See ANOWO V ANOWO 1991, 7NWLR, Pt 201 pg 58 @ 75, His Lordship Per Oguntade JCA (as he then was) On unrepresented estate stated as follows; in the instance case, the deceased died intestate no letters of administration had been granted, the Defendant had applied to be granted letters of administration, the Plaintiff entered a caveat, that caveat had not yet been removed. The position therefore is that the estate is at now unrepresented. The Administrator General should have taken over the estate under sections 13 and 14 of the Administrator General Law.Powers of the Administrator-General and Public TrusteeThe office of the Administrator General & Public Trustee is statutorily created by the Administrator General Law, CAP A4, Vol.1, Laws of Lagos State, 2003.The Administrator General is a Corporation sole, with perpetual succession and an official seal and may sue and be sued in his corporate name. The law empowers the Administrator General to administer and manage the entire estate of the deceased person. The Administrator General may either act as an Executor upon grant of Probate, where the deceased has named the Administrator-General as the Executor of his Will or act as an Administrator, where the deceased died intestate and within a month of his demise, no effort is made to commence the process of obtaining the Letters of Administration.An unrepresented estate may mean one of the following;-The estate of every person who shall die intestate and whose next- of- kin (or where such next - of - kin is a minor, his guardian) shall be unknown or shall be absent from Nigeria without having an attorney therein or if in Nigeria and known, shall have refused or neglected for a period of one month after the death of deceased to apply to the court for letters of administration;-The estate of every person who shall die having made a will, when owing to any cause it shall be necessary to appoint an administrator cum testamento annexo or de bonis non of such estate and the person entitled to such letters of administration shall be unknown or shall if in Nigeria and known, refuse or shall neglect for one month after the death of the testator to apply to the court for such letters of administration or shall be absent from Nigeria without having an attorney therein; and-Every estate whereof the executor or administrator shall be absent from Nigeria without having an attorney therein;-Every estate where the deceased has named the Administrator General as the sole executor of his will.Entering of estate before grantSections 13 and 14 of the Law empowers the Administrator General on becoming aware of any such unrepresented estate and prior to obtaining grant of probate or letters of administration of the same, to enter upon the estate for the purpose of sealing up or making such other disposition for the security of such estate as he may deem necessary.The provision of Section 13 specifically requires the Administrator General to present a Petition to the court praying for the grant of representation in respect of the deceased person by way of grant of probate or Letters of Administration.Section 15, empowers the Administrator-General to apply to the court for grant of letters of administration in any instance where the beneficiaries fail, within a period of one month from the death of the deceased.Section 16 empowers the Administrator-General, whenever any person dies leaving assets within the state and the Court is not satisfied that there is any person immediately available who is legally entitled to succession where there is uncertainty as to succession of the estate, particularly when it involves assets within the state, the Court may upon application by the Administrator-General be directed to take possession of such assets to prevent the dissipation or waste of the estate pending the determination of those legally entitled to succession of such assets.The Administrator General is also empowered to administer upon Court referral, (administrator pendent lite) where there is a Will, and the will is subject of litigation.Effect of grant to the Administrator-GeneralProbate or Letters of Administration granted by the Court to the Administrator-General shall be conclusive as to the representative title against all debtors of the deceased and all persons holding such assets, and shall afford full indemnity to all debtors paying their debts, and all persons delivering up such assets to the Administrator-General, or his agent duly appointed in accordance with the provision of this Law.As earlier stated, the Administrator-General either upon Order of Court to administer, or upon grant of probate where named an Executor or grant of Letters of Administration, where it is an intestate estate, administers same, (real estate) by collecting accruable rents from such estate.The duties and responsibilities of the Administrator-GeneralIn administering an intestate estate, the Administrator-General & Public Trustee is saddled with the following duties/responsibilities amongst others;-The management and administration of the estate of the deceased person who dies intestate. This includes the maintenance and general renovation of the estate.-To call upon the creditors and beneficiaries of the person whose estate he administers to present themselves and prove their claims before him within such period as he may specify.-To keep an account of all receipts, payments and dealings with every estate.-To determine all liabilities payable by the estate and to ascertain, collect, manage and distribute the assets of the estate to the beneficiaries who have proved their relationship to the deceased.-The Administrator-General & Public Trustee is empowered to invest the monies had and received in respect of the estate administered by him for the benefit of the beneficiaries.-To present before the court, a Petition for an Order of the Court to administer the deceaseds estate.The estate of the deceased usually is made up of both real and personal estate, thus the Administrator General is also saddled with the responsibility of paying the death benefit of a deceased civil servant who died in active service. The office of the Administrator General carries out this responsibility by inviting all the beneficiaries of the deceased to ascertain the authentic beneficiaries.Challenges facing the Administrator-General in the administration of estatesThe above enumerated roles and responsibilities of the Administrator-General, come with its own challenges which more often than not frustrate efforts of the Administrator-General and his officers in the effective administration of the estate of a deceased person. These challenges are two fold; internal and external challenges.The under listed challenges are not limited to the following;-The uncooperative attitude of personnel in the Probate Registry.It is not in doubt that the grant of probate or Letters of Administration is a pre-requisite, even for the Administrator-General, prior to commencement of administration of an estate of a deceased person, who had either named the Administrator-General as an Executor in his Will or where he died intestate.This pre-requisite in effect means that there must be an effective working relationship with the Probate Registry, being the authority charged with the responsibility of the issuance of Letters of Administration. The time frame required to process the Letters of Administration or grant of probate is discouraging and at times events would have overtaken the need for such an application.On receiving a Petition as required by Section 14 of the Administrator-General Law, Cap A4, Vol. 1, Laws of Lagos State 2003, the office is duty bound to ascertain the existence or otherwise of a Will, particularly in instances when the deceased did not practice Monogamy and one of the parties willfully attempts to conceal certain information from other beneficiaries.The delay in response to enquiries frequently experienced from the Probate Registry constitutes hindrance to the quick and effective delivery of justice in line with the State Governments justice agenda.The office is still faced with the rigorous processes of obtaining Letters of Administration which would enable it to perform it functions effectively despite Order of court (obtained from filing petitions) to the Administrator General to Administer an estate.-The non implementation of the Administration of Estates (Small Estate Payments Exemption) Law 2005This law was enacted to alleviate bottle-necks regularly experienced by the beneficiaries of deceased persons who dies leaving a personal estate comprising money with any person or in any bank or other institution not exceeding in value the sum of N100,000.00.-Odumosu is the Lagos State Administrator-General and Public Trustee
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