81. The following new sections are hereby inserted immediately after section 539, and shall have effect as sections 539A and 539B, of the principal enactment : -
| 539A. Where any legal proceeding touching the validity of the will of a deceased person or for obtaining, recalling, or revoking grant of probate or letters of administration is pending. the court may, either on the ground of undue delay or otherwise, grant letters of administration to the estate of the deceased to an administrator limited for the duration of such proceeding; such administrator shall be subject to the immediate control of the court and act under its direction, and shall not have the right of distributing the estate. |
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| 539B.
| | (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 55 of the Estate Duty Ordinance, where for the purpose of paying estate duty or for any other sufficient cause it becomes necessary to sell any property of the estate of a deceased person prior to the issue of probate or letters of administration the court may grant letters limited for the purpose of selling such property. | | |
| | (2) Such property shall be specified in the grant and such grant shall expressly state that the letters are issued subject to the following conditions:-
| | | (a) that the sale shall be, if by private treaty, at the price fixed by court, or if by public auction, either at an upset price or otherwise; |
| (b) that the net proceeds of sale shall be deposited in court within such time as the court may prescribe; |
| (c) that the administrator to whom the letters are issued is not empowered to execute any deed of conveyance of immovable property prior to the confirmation of sale by the court; and |
| (d) any other stipulation the court may in the circumstances deem fit to impose. |
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| | (3) Before making an order for grant of letters under this section, the Commissioner-General of Inland Revenue and the respondents to the original petition for probate or letters of administration shall be given notice of the application and they or any other person interested in the estate shall be heard in opposition unless they or any of them shall have signified their assent to such sale.". | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts