Section 19D of Court Fees Act 1870 - Probate and Trust Property

Section 19D deals with the validity and availability of probate or letters of administration in relation to property that the deceased possessed or was entitled to, wholly or partly, as a trustee, even where the value of that trust property was not included in the estate value on which court-fee was paid.

What Section 19D provides

The provision is contained in Chapter IIIA of the Court-Fees Act, 1870, which deals with probates, letters of administration and related court-fee matters. Section 19D was inserted by the Court Fees Act, 1870 amendment made by Act 13 of 1875, section 6.

Section 19D - Probates declared valid as to trust-property though not covered by court-fee

The probate of a will or letters of administration granted in respect of a deceased person's effects remains valid and available to the executor or administrator for recovering, transferring or assigning movable or immovable property held or possessed by the deceased, wholly or partly, as trustee, even though the amount or value of that property was not included in the estate value on which the court-fee for the probate or letters of administration was paid.

Meaning and scope of Section 19D

The section addresses a specific probate situation: the deceased may have had possession of, or an entitlement concerning, property not in a beneficial personal capacity but as a trustee. The provision prevents the probate or letters of administration from becoming ineffective for dealing with that trust property merely because its value was not included in the estate valuation used for payment of court-fee.

Probate: a court grant relating to a will and the authority of the executor named in it.
Letters of administration: a court grant authorising an administrator to administer the deceased person's estate in circumstances where such a grant is required.
Trust property: for the purpose of Section 19D, the relevant property is movable or immovable property of which the deceased was possessed or to which the deceased was entitled, wholly or partly, in the capacity of trustee.
Effect of omission from court-fee valuation: non-inclusion of the value of such trust property in the estate value for which court-fee was paid does not, by itself, prevent the executor or administrator from using the grant to recover, transfer or assign that property.

Why the provision matters

Section 19D distinguishes property connected with the deceased in a trustee capacity from the estate value on which probate court-fee was paid. Its operative purpose is to preserve the usefulness of the grant for dealing with such trust property. It should therefore be read in the context of the probate and administration provisions in Chapter IIIA and the court-fee law applicable in the relevant State or Union Territory.

State law note: Court-fee legislation is subject to State amendments and, in some jurisdictions, separate State court-fee enactments. Before calculating a fee or filing a probate matter, verify the law, schedule of fees and amendments applicable in the State or Union Territory concerned.

Official text and legal reference

The current central text of the Court-Fees Act, 1870 can be checked on the official India Code - Court-Fees Act, 1870. Section 19D appears in Chapter IIIA dealing with probates and letters of administration.

Related provisions

For the surrounding statutory scheme, see Section 19A, Section 19B, Section 19C, and Section 19E.

This page provides general legal information. Court-fee requirements can vary according to the applicable State law, local amendments, valuation and the nature of the proceeding.