Chapter VI PROBATES, LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION AND

(1) Every application for the grant of probate or letters of administration shall be accompanied by a valuation of the estate in duplicate in the Form set forth in Part I of Schedule III. (2) On receipt of such application, the Court shall send a copy thereof and of the valuation to the Collector of the district in which the estate is situated, or if the estate is situated in more than one district to the Collector of the district in which the portion of the estate, the aggregate value of which is the highest is situated.

(1) The fee chargeable for the grant of probate or letters of administration shall be calculated at the rate or rates specified in the Article 6 of Schedule I - (a) where the application is made within one year of the date of death of the deceased, on the market value of the estate on such date; or (b) where the application is made after the expiry of one year from such date, on the market value of the estate on the date of application: Provided that no fee shall be leviable under this Chapter on any property held in trust not beneficially or with general power to confer a beneficial interest. Explanation- Any member of a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara Law who applies for probate or letters administration in respect of the estate of a deceased member of the joint family shall pay a fee on the value of the share in the joint property which the deceased would have received if a partition of the property had been made immediately before his death. (2) For the purpose of the computation of fee - (a) the value of the items mentioned in Annexure B to Part I of Schedule III shall be deducted from the value of the estate: Provided that when an application is made for probate or letters of administration in respect of only part of an estate, no debt, no expenses connected with any funeral rites or ceremonies and no mortgage encumbrance on any part of the estate other than that in respect of which the application is made shall be deducted: Provided further that when, after the grant of a certificate under Part X of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, (Central Act 39 of 1925), regarding any property included in an estate, a grant of probate or letters of administration is made in respect of the same estate, the fee payable for the latter grant shall be reduced by the amount of the fee paid for the former grant; (b) the power of appointment which the deceased had over any property or which was created under a will shall be taken into account, the value being taken to be the value of the property forming the subject-matter of the power.

(1) The Collector to whom a copy of the application and of the valuation has been sent under sub-section (2) of section 52, shall examine the same and may make or cause to be made by any officer subordinate to him such inquiry, if any, as he thinks fit as to the correctness of the valuation or where a part only of the property is situated in his district, of the valuation of that part, and may require the Collector of any other district in which any part of the property is situated to furnish him with the correct valuation thereof. (2) Any Collector required under sub-section (1) to furnish the correct valuation of any property shall comply with the requisition after making or causing to be made by any officer subordinate to him such inquiry, if any, as he thinks fit. (3) If the Collector is of opinion that the applicant has underestimated the value of the property of the deceased, he may, if he thinks fit, require the attendance of the applicant, either in person or by his agent, and take evidence and inquire into the matter in such manner as he may think fit, and if he is still of opinion that the value of the property has been underestimated, may require the applicant to amend the valuation, and, if the application for probate or letters of administration is pending in Court, to file a copy of the amended valuation in such Court. (4) If, in any such case, the probate or letters of administration has or have been granted and the applicant amends the valuation to the satisfaction of the Collector and the Collector finds that the fee payable according to the true value of the estate has not been paid in full, he shall proceed under sub-section (4) of section 58; and if the fee paid is in excess of that payable according to the true value of the estate, the excess fee shall be refunded to the applicant. (5) (a) If the applicant does not amend the valuation to the satisfaction of the Collector, the Collector shall move the Court to which the application for probate or letters of administration was made for holding an inquiry into the true value of the property. (b) The Collector shall not move the Court under clause (a) after the expiry of six months from the date on which the inventory required by section 317 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Central Act 39 of 1925), is exhibited.

(1) The Court shall, when moved by the Collector under sub-section (5) of section 56, hold or cause to be held by any Court or officer subordinate to it an inquiry as to the true value at which the estate of the deceased should have been estimated. The Collector shall be deemed to be a party to the inquiry. (2) For the purposes of any such inquiry the Court, or any Court or officer subordinate to it authorised by the Court to hold the inquiry, may examine the applicant on oath either in person or by commission, and may take such further evidence as may be produced to prove the true value of the estate, and where the inquiry has been entrusted to a Subordinate Court or officer, such Court or officer shall return to the Court the evidence taken and report the result of the inquiry and such report and the evidence so taken shall be evidence in the proceedings. (3) The Court on the completion of the inquiry or on receipt of the report referred to in sub-section (2), as the case may be, shall record a finding as to the true value at which the estate should have been estimated and such finding shall be final. (4) The Court may make such order as to the costs of the inquiry as it thinks fit.

(1) Where insufficient fee has been paid on any probate or letters of administration on account of any mistake or of want of knowledge at the time that some particular part of the estate belonged to the deceased, if any executor or administrator, acting under such probate or letters, applies to the Collector in the Form set forth in Part II of Schedule III and pays within six months of the discovery of the mistake or of any effects not known at the time to have belonged to the deceased, the difference between the fee which ought to have been paid in the first instance on such probate or letters and the fee actually paid, the Collector shall, if satisfied that insufficient fee was paid in the first instance on account of a mistake and without any intention to defraud or to delay the payment of the proper fee, cause the probate or letters to be duly stamped. (2) If, in a case falling under sub-section (1), the executor or administrator does not, within the six months referred to in that sub-section, pay the deficit fee, he shall forfeit a sum equal to five times the deficit fee. (3) If, on application being made under sub-section (1), the Collector is satisfied that the application was not made within six months of the discovery of the mistake or of further effects not included in the original valuation or that the payment of insufficient fee in the first instance was not due to a bona fide mistake, he shall cause the probate or letters to be duly stamped on payment of the deficit fee together with a penalty not exceeding five times such fee. (4) If, after the grant of probate or letters of administration of an estate, it is found by the Collector that a fee less than that payable according to the true value of the estate has been paid, he shall cause the probate or letters to be properly stamped on payment of the deficit fee, and if he is satisfied that the original undervaluation was not bona fide, he shall levy in addition a penalty not exceeding five times the deficit fee. (5) The Board of Revenue may remit the whole or any part of the amount forfeited under sub-section (2) or of any penalty under sub-section (3) of sub-section (4).

(1) If, at any time after the grant of the probate or letters of administration of an estate, it is discovered that fee has been paid in excess of what was payable according to the true value of the estate, the executor or administrator, as the case may be, may apply for a refund to the Collector to whom a copy of the valuation of the estate was sent under sub-section (2) of section 52. The application shall be accompanied by an amended valuation in the Form set forth in Part II of Schedule III together with the probate or letters of administration upon which a refund is sought. (2) If the Collector is satisfied that the amended valuation is correct, he shall (i) endorse a certificate on the stamped probate or letters of administration to the effect that so much of the fee represented by the stamp or stamps used has been refunded; and (ii) refund the difference between the fee originally paid and that which should have been paid: Provided that no refund shall be granted under this section unless the application for refund is made within three years of the date of the grant of the probate or letters of administration or within such further period as the Collector may allow: Provided further that if, by reason of any legal proceedings, the debts due from the deceased have not been ascertained and paid or his effects have not been recovered and made available and in consequence thereof the executor or administrator is prevented from claiming the return of such difference within the said period of three years, the Collector may allow such further time for making the claim as may appear to him to be reasonable under the circumstances. (3) If the Collector refuses to grant a refund, the executor or administrator, as the case may be, may apply to the Board of Revenue for an order of refund. An application for such refund shall be accompanied by an amended valuation in the Form set forth in Part II of Schedule III.

(1) The grant of probate or letters of administration shall not be delayed by reason of the reference to the Collector under sub-section (2) of section 52; but the Court shall not grant probate or letters of administration unless it is satisfied that the fee chargeable under this Act has been paid on the basis of the net value of the estate as furnished in the valuation accompanying the application or in the amended valuation filed under sub-section (3) of section 56. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Court may, without the payment of the proper fee, grant probate or letters of administration to the Administrator-General in his official capacity on his giving an undertaking to the satisfaction of the Court that the said fee will be paid within such time as may be fixed by the Court.

(1) Whenever a grant of probate or letters of administration has been made in respect of the whole of the property belonging to an estate and the full fee payable under this Act in respect of the application for such grant has been paid thereon, no fee shall be payable when

Where insufficient fee has been paid in the first instance on letters of administration, the Collector shall not cause the same to be duly stamped in the manner aforesaid unless the administrator has given such security to the Court granting the letters of administration as ought by law to have been given on the granting thereof in case the full value of the estate of the deceased had then been ascertained.

Any fee found to be payable by an applicant for probate or letters of administration or by an executor or administrator, or any costs under sub-section (4) of section 57 or any penalty or forfeiture payable by any such executor or administrator may, on the certificate of the Board of Revenue, be recovered from the executor or administrator as if it were an arrear of land revenue.

The powers and duties of the Collector under this Chapter shall be subject to the control of the Board of Revenue.