Section 19I of Court Fees Act 1870 - Payment of Court Fees for Probate and Letters of Administration
Section 19I of the Court-fees Act, 1870 regulates payment of court fees before a court makes an order entitling a petitioner to a grant of probate or letters of administration. It links the grant to valuation of the estate and payment of the prescribed court fee.
Text of Section 19I
19-I. Payment of court-fees in respect of probates and letters of administration.
(1) No order entitling the petitioner to the grant of probate or letters of administration shall be made upon an application for such grant until the petitioner has filed in the Court a valuation of the property in the form set forth in the Third Schedule, and the Court is satisfied that the fee mentioned in No. 11 of the First Schedule has been paid on such valuation.
(2) The grant of probate or letters of administration shall not be delayed by reason of any motion made by the Collector under section 19-H, sub-section (4).
Section 19I was inserted by Act 11 of 1899, section 2.
Meaning and legal effect of Section 19I
The provision creates a statutory requirement connected with the stage at which the court is to make an order entitling the applicant to probate or letters of administration. The petitioner must first place before the court a valuation of the relevant property in the form prescribed by the Third Schedule. The court must also be satisfied that the applicable fee under Item No. 11 of the First Schedule has been paid on that valuation.
In practical terms, Section 19I should be read with the other provisions in the probate and letters of administration group of the Court-fees Act, particularly Section 19H, which deals with notice to Revenue authorities and the procedure relating to valuation.
Requirements under Section 19I(1)
| Requirement | Effect |
|---|---|
| Application for probate or letters of administration | The provision applies at the stage of a grant sought by the petitioner. |
| Valuation of property | The petitioner must file the valuation in the form prescribed in the Third Schedule. |
| Payment of court fee | The court must be satisfied that the fee referred to in Item No. 11 of the First Schedule has been paid on the valuation. |
| Court satisfaction | The statutory conditions must be fulfilled before the order entitling the petitioner to the grant is made. |
Section 19I(2) and a motion by the Collector
Sub-section (2) states that the grant of probate or letters of administration is not to be delayed merely because the Collector has made a motion under Section 19H(4). This provision should therefore be read together with the valuation and Revenue-authority procedure contained in Section 19H.
What are probate and letters of administration?
Probate is the court's formal grant in relation to a will to the executor entitled to represent the estate. Letters of administration are a form of authority granted by a competent court to administer the estate where administration is required in circumstances recognised by succession law. The substantive law governing probate and letters of administration is principally found in the Indian Succession Act, 1925, while Section 19I of the Court-fees Act addresses the court-fee and valuation requirement relevant to the grant.
Court fee may depend on State amendments
Related provisions
The surrounding provisions deal with excess or deficient court fee, several grants, trust property, security, underpayment, Revenue-authority procedure and recovery. See Section 19E, Section 19F, Section 19G, Section 19H, Section 19J and Section 19K.
Official legal source
The current central text of the Court-fees Act, 1870 can be checked on the official India Code portal. Because State amendments can materially affect court-fee liability, the relevant State legislation and rules should also be verified before calculating the fee payable in a particular proceeding.
Key takeaway
Section 19I makes valuation and payment of the applicable court fee statutory conditions connected with an order entitling the petitioner to probate or letters of administration. At the same time, a motion by the Collector under Section 19H(4) is not, by itself, a ground to delay the grant. For an actual filing, the applicable State law, schedule and current fee structure should be checked in addition to the central provision.