GROUP WORK PRESENTATION

12 (a) What is the role of Administrator General in Estate management?

(b) Discuss how the Administrator General distributes properties of persons who die
intestate (s.23, Process)

BACKGROUND
The Office of Administrator General is created by the Administrator General’s Act Cap 264.
Under the Act, the Administrator General is given the mandate to administer estates, issue
Certificates of No Objections and to verify beneficiaries among other matters.
The Office of Administrator General is a body corporate with perpetual succession and an
official seal. It is capable of suing and being sued in all legal proceedings although, the
government represented by the Attorney General is still vicariously liable for all the
Administrator General’s acts and/or omissions like any other Government department.
Headed by the Administrator General who also doubles as a Public Trustee, The Administrator
General is assisted by the Deputy Administrator General and other legal officers referred to as
Assistant Administrator general

The law under which the office operates;

In carrying out these duties and functions, Administrator General applies the following law:
i. Constitution of Uganda 1995,
ii. The Administrator General’s Act Cap 264, (as amended)
iii. The Succession Act Cap 268 as amended her in referred to as the Act, (As amended by Act 3
of 2022)
iv. The Public Trustee Act Cap 161,
v. Administration of Estates (Small Estates) Special Provisions Act Cap 156, (As amended)
vi. Trustee Act Cap 164, the Missing Persons (Management) Act Cap 159 and
vii. The Administration of Estates of Persons of Unsound Mind Act Cap 155.

The Constitutional Court declared several provisions of the Succession Act Cap. 162 as being
unconstitutional in Law Advocacy for Women in Uganda v. Attorney General, Const.
Petition No s 13/2005 & 05/2006 in as far as they discriminated on the basis of sex and did not
accord equal treatment in the division of property between male and female.
The declaration by the Court left a lacuna in the law and this necessitated amendments to the
Succession Act in order to accord equal rights between men and women and bring the Act in
conformity with the Constitution as required by Art 274of Ugandan constitution as amended.
An estate is defined in section 2 of the Act to mean the aggregate of all property owned by a
deceased person or the property in which a deceased person was beneficially entitled
immediately before his or her death. The law as already stated above regulates how this property
is governed or managed.
The Administrator General is given mandate in several pertinent
areas mostly where there is no will (intestate succession) but also in
certain circumstances where there is a will as discussed here under ;

Land management

Land is one of the most significant parts of estates of deceased persons. All land under different
land tenure systems like the customary land tenure, mailo, freehold, leasehold and land held by
lawful and bonafide occupants is subject to succession. The Office of Administrator General has
a land section which is the place where Wills, land titles, land sale agreements and Succession
Registers are kept.in Administrator general v Bukirwa the deceased was survived by a widow,
children and dependents. the defendants the sisters of the deceased applied for the letters of
probate using an illegal will and before the grant the widow filled a complaint with
administrator general who called a family meeting but subsequently letters of probate were
given which the administrator general sought to challenge. The widow claimed that the
deceased left no will and court found that the purported will did not clarify who the executors
are the estate of the deceased appears to have been left at large to be managed by different
people and the deceased died intestate .at this point the only option would be to go to the
administrator general to apply for certificate of no objection .court granted letters of
administration to the administrator general invoking sec 4 of the administrator generals Act

The mandate of the Administrator General regarding land issues is wide but in summary
includes;
1. Safely storing Wills, Duplicate Certificates of Title, Land Sale agreements and other
important documents pertaining to land and succession matters.

2. In estates being administered by the Administrator General, the Office has the mandate to
distribute the land equitably among beneficiaries or according to wishes of deceased persons as
indicated in their Written Wills.

3. Furthermore, the Office of Administrator General signs transfers for beneficiaries of a

deceased person if the estate is being administered by the Administrator General.

Challenges

When dealing with land, the Office of Administrator General has faced several challenges
including:
1.The law on land matters is silent on the fact that a transfer by the Administrator General
does not constitute a sale of the land but a mere distribution of the deceased’s estate to his or
her beneficiaries. The Office is in court in several cases where lawful and
 bonafide occupants are suing the department for not having given them the first option to
buy a deceased person’s land before transferring the land to the beneficiaries.

2. Fraud and misrepresentation. Some clients misrepresent themselves as

beneficiaries of a deceased person in order to claim a beneficial interest in a deceased
person’s land. The office undertakes several and sometimes expensive checks to ascertain
the rightful beneficiaries on a deceased person’s estate. Administrator general v Akello
joyce and Donato Otti, the respondents the widow and the father of the deceased applied for
certificate of no objection from the administrator general ,the latter refused due to a
complaint from a woman who claimed to be the widow that alleged that the respondents
were not supporting the children that she got with the deceased more so she presented
forged certificates of marriage ,this led the administrator gen to apply for them instead
which the respondents put a caveat. Court found that the powers of the administrator general
under section 4 were not absolute unless under the guidelines under sec 4(3)of
Administrator Generals Act and that the applicant acted out of her mandate when he acted
on behald of another woman of the deceased

3. Most clients are ignorant about Succession Laws. They claim, distribute and sell the
land before appearing in the Office of Administrator General. By the time they do appear, so
much has been done on the land and there are several disputes arising from the land at the
time. Little can be done to rectify such situations to the detriment of the deceased’s
beneficiaries.

4. The Department looses a lot of time in courts of law. There are cases that take over
ten years to conclude despite the fact that most cases are frivolous.

5. The law states that an estate should meet its own costs. However, most estates are
small and cannot afford or are unwilling to meet their own costs. The meager resources of
the Department are, in such circumstances, used to meet costs of the Department.

Management of succession registers and succession certificates

The mandate of the Office of Administrator General in Succession Registers and Succession
Certificates
includes

1. Verifying beneficiaries of the deceased to ascertain that they are entitled to a share as stated in
the Succession Registers.in Lucy monica Akullo v Michael kirega before justice Okello, the
widow of the deceased filled an application for grant of letters of administration to the deceased
estate, the application was challenged by the mother of the deceased and his siblings and they
gave reasons that; a) the widow was a young lady who was likely to re marry anyway
b) that she had no love for the step children
c) it was contrary to Acholi customs to administer the estate of the deceased before the final
funeral rites had been performed
 it was held that under sec 201 where the deceased died intestate letters of administration should
be granted to the window save where the court sees cause to exclude her ,justice okello averred
that the reasons brought against the widow could not hold water and letters of administration
were granted to the widow

2. Issuing beneficiaries of the deceased with a Certificate of No Objection to enable them petition
for Letters of Administration to the deceased’s estate.

3. Administering the deceased’s estate where the Administrator General is the administrator of the
Estate.

4. Distributing the deceased’s estate to his or her beneficiaries in accordance to the distribution
made in the Succession Register were the estate is administered by the Administrator General.

Challenges
The Office of Administrator General has faced numerous challenges when using the Succession
Registers and when issuing Succession
Certificates

1. There is no law pertaining to issuing of Succession Certificates since the Administrations

Act, 18/1967 and the Local Administrations (Performance of Functions) Instrument
were repealed by the Local Governments Act Cap 243.

2. Most beneficiaries cannot be properly verified. Since most records contain deceased
person’s estates between 1912 and 1967, most of the beneficiaries are long dead. Their
relatives who come to our offices do not know the deceased but have just been informed
that they are somehow related.

3. There are many people who fraudulently misrepresent themselves as relatives of

deceased people. They come and claim beneficial shares fraudulently.

4. Some Succession Registers have information pertaining to a deceased’s estate which is

insufficient. It lists beneficiaries but no further details like their ancestors, their place of
residence at the time the Registers where made and others. This makes it easy for
unscrupulous members of the public to impersonate the beneficiaries.

Handling of family matters

The Office of the Administrator General considers close blood relatives when dealing with a
deceased person’s estate. When considering family members entitled to take a beneficial interest
in the estate of a deceased person, the Office refers to the Succession Act Cap 268, Section 19
and the second Schedule of the Succession Act which provides the method for computing
degrees of kindred. There is an exception to consanguinity whereby the spouses and adopted
children to the deceased who have a legal relationship to the deceased are considered when
distributing the estate. Furthermore, the Department is involved in administering estates on
behalf of children. The laws governing children are diverse and include the Constitution 1995,
the Children’s Act Cap 62, the Public Trustees Act and the Succession Act Cap 268.

The mandate of the Administrator General in family matters

includes;

1. Verifying the beneficiaries of deceased persons by analyzing their family relationship to the
deceased. in the case of lubangira v Akamba bus it was held that the husband of the deceased
is under the law a competent person to bring an actin on behalf of the estate of the deceased
wife and he is in law a dependent of his wife as per the definition of the dependent relative

2. Issuing the family members with a Certificate of No Objection after ascertaining that they are
capable of administering the deceased’s estate.

3. Distributing the estate of the deceased person, that is being administered by the
Administrator General, to his or her true beneficiaries after they have been verified.

4. Appearing in court on behalf of the deceased’s estate and on behalf of his beneficiaries in
cases where the estate is administered by the Administrator General.

5. Holding, protecting and preserving a gift, legacy or share of a deceased person that an infant
is entitled to as a Public Trustee on behalf of the infant under Section 8 of the Public
Trustees Act .

6. The Administrator General, in Section 27 of the Administrator General’s Act can transfer
a minor’s beneficial share to a mother, father, public trustee or other suitable person to hold
it on behalf of the infant upon application from court.

7. To mediate family disputes regarding succession matters.

Challenges
some challenges faced by the Office of the Administrator General when implementing its
duties in family matters include;

1. The customary laws and religious laws which are mostly contrary to the Law of
Succession are widely practiced. Despite efforts by the Office to handle matters of
succession under the Succession Act, some clients prefer to follow their cultural and
religious practices usually to the detriment of the deceased’s actual beneficiaries
especially widows, children, female beneficiaries and others.

2. Many cases of fraud and misrepresentation arise where unscrupulous members of the
public hold out as family members of a deceased person to receive a beneficial share of
the deceased’s estate to the detriment of the actual beneficiaries.
 3. It is difficult to verify beneficiaries of a deceased person especially relying on
information provided by aspiring beneficiaries.

4. The law states that a widow is best entitled to administer a deceased’s estate as she can
petition for Letters of Administration without verification from the Administrator
General. However, this has proved challenging as the deceased usually is survived by
children who are not biological children of the legal widow. Sometimes the legal widow
has few or no children with the deceased despite the fact that the deceased has children
with other ladies. In different circumstances, the legal widow cannot distribute the estate
equitably to the satisfaction of all the deceased’s beneficiaries.

Management of the estate for persons of unsound mind

A person of unsound mind is defined in Section 1 (c) of the Administration of Estates of

Persons of Unsound Mind Act Cap 155 as a person adjudged to be of unsound mind under
Section 4 of the Mental Treatment Act or any person detained under section 113 or 117 of the
Magistrates Courts Act;

MANDATE

Under Section 3 (3) of the Administration of Estates of Persons of Unsound Mind Act, the
mandate of the Administrator General is to manage the estate of a person of unsound mind in
case there is no one suitable to manage such estate. This appointment to manage the estate is
made by the court.

CHALLENGE

The challenge of the Administrator General when managing estates of persons of unsound mind
is that a lot of time is spent mediating and counseling to end disputes that come up before
management orders have been issued by court.

Management of the estate of missing persons

Under Section 1(1)(f) of the Estates of Missing Persons Management Act Cap 159 a missing
person is defined as a person who disappears from Uganda without making provision for the
administration of his or her estate and investigations have shown that his or her whereabouts are
not known.
A missing person is presumed dead after three years from the date of disappearance under
Section 20 of the Estates of Missing Persons Management Act Cap
159.

The mandate of the Administrator General under Section 2(6) of the Estates of Missing
Persons Management Act Cap 159 is to apply for a management order and manage the
 estate of a missing person if no one has applied to manage the estate after a period of
twelve months following the missing person’s disappearance.

Upon the evidence of death of a missing person or a presumption of death after his or her
disappearance for three years, the Administrator General has the mandate to administer the
person’s estate in accordance with Section 21 (1) of the Estates of Missing Persons
Management Act Cap 159.

CHALLENGE
The challenge of the Administrator General when managing estates of missing persons is that a
lot of time is spent mediating and counseling to end disputes that come up before management
orders have been issued by court.

B) How does the Administrator General distributes properties of a person who die
intestate

The administrator general distributes property of the persons who die intestate following the
laws under intestate succession as follows;
Section 22 provides for the devolution of the residential holdings which is the one that was
occupied by the intestate prior to his death as a principal residential holding and it includes all
its chattels which shall be held in trust for the spouse and lineal descendants. Sec 22(4)
criminalizes any attempt to evict the surviving spouse or any lineal descendant form the
residential holding and on conviction shall be liable to a fine of 168currency points or
imprisonment not exceeding seven years or both .the administrator general at all times must
follow this procedure

Section 23 is elaborate on the distribution of the property of the intestate among different
classes of the beneficiaries and the administrator general shall distribute as follows;
Section 23(1)(a) where the intestate is survived by a spouse ,lineal descendant, dependent
relative and a customary heir or heiress , the spouse shall take 20 percent, dependent relative
shall receive four percent, lineal descents shall receive seventy five percent and the customary
heir or heiress shall receive one percent of the property of the intestate.
According to Sec 23(2) the administrator shall reserve 20 percent of the gross estate before
distribution not withstanding sub section (1) and it shall be held in trust for the education,
maintenance and welfare of the minors, those above 18 years but below 25 years if at the time
of death of the intestate was under taking studies and was not married and those lineal
descendants with disability.

The administrator general shall distribute the property of the intestate referred to in 23(1) in
equal share according to sec 24
The administrator general shall not give any interest in the deceased estate to the surviving
spouse if at the time of death she was separated from the intestate as a member of the house hold
unless if the separation was caused by the intestate or by application after six months of the
death of the intestate court finds good cause that the surviving spouse benefit from the estate of
the intestate, this is provided for under section 26 of the Act

In conclusion therefore the Administrator General play a pivotal role in management and
distributing of the estate of the deceased persons in Uganda and this helps in the equitable
devolution of property to the beneficiaries and holding in trust property of the vulnerable
categories of the beneficiaries of the intestate like minors and the persons with disability