Deceased Dying Domiciled outside Jurisdiction

• Author: Karen Nunez-Tesheira
• Pages: 291-309

Deceased Dying Domiciled Outside Jurisdiction / 291

INTRODUCTION

Where a person dies domiciled outside of the respective Caribbean

jurisdictions considered in this text, and leaves property located therein,

the original grant obtained in the country of domicile may be resealed,

provided that the deceased’s country of domicile is one to which resealing

applies. Where resealing is not applicable, an ancillary grant, depending

on the jurisdiction concerned, will have to be obtained in the respective

Caribbean territory, to lawfully administer the deceased’s property located

there.

In this regard, the following should be noted:

St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda1

In the case of St. Lucia and Barbados, grants may be resealed from any part

of the world. Ancillary grants, therefore, would not arise in practice. In

Antigua, quite apart from the fact that grants issued out of a British

Commonwealth territory and the U.S.A. can be resealed, the practice and

procedure which is adopted in respect of grants issued in these territories,

is not the procedure and practice relevant to an ancillary grant application.

Trinidad & Tobago and Anguilla2

In Trinidad & Tobago and Anguilla, as in the case with all the other

jurisdictions considered in this text (other than St. Lucia, Barbados and to

a limited extent, Antigua & Barbuda), resealing applications are restricted

to grants issuing out of British Commonwealth territories. However, it is

not the practice to apply for ancillary grants where resealing is not an

alternative. Instead, the application for the grant in these jurisdictions is

made in the same manner as a general grant of representation subject to

the special requirements in respect thereto.

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Deceased Dying Domiciled

Outside Jurisdiction

292 / Probate Practice and Procedure

All jurisdictions (save St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Barbados and

Trinidad & Tobago).

In these jurisdictions, as in the case in Trinidad & Tobago and Anguilla,

resealing is limited to grants obtained in a British Commonwealth territory,

pursuant to the relevant statutory provision of these territories.

Accordingly, an ancillary grant must be obtained in Guyana, Jamaica,

and the Eastern Caribbean territories (save St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda

and Anguilla) in the absence of local practice, statutory provision or

subsidiary legislation to the contrary.

ADMISSIBILITY AND REVOCABILITY OF WILL AND

ENTITLEMENT TO GRANT

Where resealing is not an alternative, irrespective of whether an ancillary

grant is or is not applied for, the admissibility of a will to proof and its

revocability must be determined in accordance with the law and practice

relevant to the respective jurisdiction.

With respect to entitlement to the grant, in cases where resealing is

not an alternative, and the jurisdiction is one to which ancillary grants

apply, the entitlement of the applicant to the ancillary grant must be

determined in accordance with the relevant probate rules of the respective

jurisdiction whether, indigenous or received.

ADMISSIBILITY OF WILL TO PROOF

Admissibility to proof of the testamentary dispositions made under the

will of a deceased person who has died domiciled outside the jurisdiction,

in which an application for a grant with respect to his estate is made, is

generally dependent on whether the common law or the statutory position

applies to the respective Caribbean territory.

A. Common Law Position

Anguilla,3 Guyana,and Jamaica

Movable Estate

According to the common law, a will is valid to pass movable estate if it is

executed in accordance with the law of the testator’s last place of domicile,