Greater efficiency in the administration of estates may be achieved through the Probate and Administration of Estates Act, which will impact many Bahamians and has implications for the offshore financial sector too.
The Act came into effect June 1, creating a single statute that consolidates previous laws on the obtaining of grants for representation and the administration of estates in The Bahamas. Higgs & Johnson partner Dr. Earl Cash told Guardian Business yesterday that the Act is aimed at improving a probate system long identified as wanting.
The relatives of Bahamians who die with ‘small estates’ – those with a total value under $10,000 – could see an immediate benefit from the Act. Changes to the process should make it shorter, and provisions like the removal of stamp duty mean that more of the deceased person’s assets may be transferred to survivors. For such small estates, the probate process often discouraged survivors from even pursing the probate of the estate.
The Act also removes a vexing conundrum under previous laws. Before, an applicant had to file the value of the personal estate as a part of his application. But Bahamian banking privacy laws often precluded applicants from gaining access to bank account information; banks would not disclose account information until the applicant had the court’s appointment.
