Letters of administration with or without the will annexed in respect of the estate of any deceased person or any part thereof shall not be granted to any applicant therefor unless the applicant shows—

An applicant for a grant of letters of administration with or without the will annexed in respect of the estate of any deceased person or any part thereof shall be deemed to have made reasonable inquiries as to the existence of any such claimant to an interest in the estate or part if, acting in good faith, he has—

Where subsection (1)(a) of this section applies, an applicant for a grant of letters of administration in respect of the estate of any deceased person or any part thereof shall file an affidavit saying that he has made reasonable inquiries for the purposes of the Status of Children Act 1969 as to the existence of any such claimant to an interest in the estate or part (with a brief indication of the nature of those inquiries) and (if such is the case) that he does not know of the existence of any such claimant to an interest in the estate or part.

Where, pursuant to this section, an applicant for letters of administration with or without the will annexed in respect of the estate of any deceased person or any part thereof complies with subsection (1) of this section, nothing in the Administration Act 1969 or the Code of Civil Procedure or the practice of the Supreme Court relating to a grant of letters of administration shall be construed as requiring him to do anything further in connection with the application for the purposes of this Act.

This section shall have no application in relation to any grant of administration to a trustee corporation within the meaning of section 2 of the Administration Act 1969, either alone or jointly with another person; and nothing in the Administration Act 1969, the Code of Civil Procedure, or the practice of the Supreme Court shall require the trustee corporation or any other joint applicant for the grant to make inquiries, before the grant is made, as to the existence of any such claimant.

In this section ‘applicant’ includes a person acting on behalf of the applicant, with the applicant’s express or implied authority, for the purposes of obtaining the grant.

For the purposes of the distribution of any estate or of any property held upon trust, an executor, administrator, or trustee shall make reasonable inquiries to determine whether there exists any person (in addition to any person or persons already known to him) who could claim an interest in the estate or property by reason only of this Act and the provisions of the enactments governing the distribution of intestate estates or the provisions of the will, deed, or other document governing the distribution of the estate or property (such person being hereafter in this section and in section 6a and in section 6b of this Act referred to as any claimant).

In the case of a continuing trust of income it shall be sufficient for the purposes of continuing distributions of income if reasonable inquiries as to the existence of any claimant are made before the first distribution after the commencement of this section of income under the trust.

Subject to subsection (2) of this section and to subsections (3) and (4) of section 6a of this Act, it shall be sufficient if reasonable inquiries as to the existence of any claimant are made before the first distribution after the commencement of this section of the estate or property and before any subsequent distribution where a period of 3 years or more has elapsed since reasonable inquiries were last made.

An executor, administrator, or trustee shall be deemed to have made reasonable inquiries for the purposes of section 6 of this Act if, acting in good faith and subject to subsections (2) to (4) of this section, he has—

Compliance with the requirements of section 5a(2)(a) of this Act in respect of the estate of any deceased person or any part of such an estate constitutes compliance with the requirements of subsection (1)(b) of this section in respect of the same estate or part thereof unless—

It shall not be necessary for an executor, administrator, or trustee to fulfil the requirements of subsection (1)(c) of this section on more than one occasion in respect of the same estate or property:

“Provided that where subsection (3) of section 6 of this Act applies, the executor, administrator, or trustee shall, before each distribution subsequent to the first distribution mentioned in that subsection, look through the papers (if any) that have come to his notice in the ordinary course of the administration of the estate or property since the immediately preceding distribution of the estate or property.

It shall not be necessary for an executor, administrator, or trustee to fulfil the requirements of subsection (1)(d) of this section on more than one occasion in respect of the same estate.

No action shall lie against any executor of the will or administrator or trustee of the estate of any person, or the trustee under any instrument, by any person to enforce any claim arising by reason of the executor or administrator or trustee having made any distribution of the estate or the property held upon trust disregarding the claims of any claimant where at the time of making the distribution the executor, administrator, or trustee had no notice of the relationship on which the claim is based, if he has made reasonable inquiries in accordance with such of the provisions of section 6 and section 6a of this Act as are applicable:

“Provided that if it appears to the Court that an executor, administrator, or trustee is or may be personally liable for having failed to comply with those provisions, in whole or in part, but has acted honestly, and ought fairly to be excused for his failure, the Court may relieve him either wholly or partly from personal liability for the same.

Where an executor, administrator, or trustee is aware of the existence of any claimant or potential claimant who has not, in the opinion of the executor, administrator, or trustee, been able to establish the relationship of father and child, or any other relationship traced in any degree through that relationship, pursuant to paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 7 of this Act but who may be able to do so pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of that section, he shall serve on that claimant or potential claimant or on any other person on whom notice is required to be served in accordance with section 6d(1) of this Act, a notice—

Where a person on whom such a notice has been served in accordance with subsection (1) of this section fails to apply as aforesaid for the relevant declaration of paternity, or fails to prosecute with all due diligence an application for such a declaration that is made within the said 3 months, no action shall lie against the executor, administrator, or trustee by reason of his having thereafter made any distribution of the estate or property or any part thereof before it is shown to him that the relevant declaration of paternity has been made.

Where an executor, administrator, or trustee desires to serve a notice under section 6c(1) of this Act on any person who is not of full age and capacity, the notice shall not be served on that person but shall be served on the parent or guardian of that person or on the manager of his estate or on such other person as the Supreme Court may direct.

Any notice under section 6c(1) of this Act may be served—

Where a notice is sent by post as aforesaid it shall be deemed to be served at the time at which the letter would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post.”