Probate and Administration Ordinance

(1)
This section
applies—
(a)
in relation to the estate of any person who dies on or after 11 February 2006; and
(Amended
L.N. 210 of 2005
)
(b)
to—
(i)
any part of an estate; or
(ii)
any property,
situated in Hong Kong when the deceased concerned dies.
(2)
Any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, deals
with—
(a)
any part of the estate of a deceased person; or
(b)
any property held by the deceased in the capacity of a trustee or the manager of a Tso or Tong,
which is not set out in the schedule and additional schedule (if any
)—
(c)
exhibited under
section 15A
;
(d)
annexed to a grant made in respect of the estate; or
(e)
annexed to an instrument effecting the sealing of a grant in respect of the estate under
section 49AA
,
commits an offence.
(3)
Subject to
section 60K(9)
, any person who, being neither the executor
                of a deceased person nor the person entitled in priority to the administration of
                the estate of a deceased person, takes possession of or in any way
administers—
(a)
any part of the estate; or
(b)
any part of the income of any part of the estate,
without—
(c)
lawful authority or reasonable excuse; or
(d)
first filing an application in respect of the
estate—
(i)
to the Official Administrator for the exercise of his power under
section 15
;
(ii)
for a grant under
section 24
; or
(iii)
for sealing of a grant under
section 49
,
supported by an affidavit exhibiting a schedule, or a corrective
                    affidavit exhibiting an additional schedule, setting out such part of the
                    estate,
commits an offence.
(4)
If an employee of a bank through whom the bank performed its function under
section 60B(4)
,
60D(1)
, (4) or (6) or 60E(4) has acted in good faith and has exercised due care for that purpose, the employee and the bank shall, for the purposes of determining whether he or it has committed an offence under subsection (2) or (3) by performing that function, be regarded as having acted with lawful authority.
(5)
If—
(a)
a bank acting through an employee of it allows a surviving renter of a jointly rented safe deposit box with survivorship arrangement to exercise, subject to
section 60I
, his right of access to the contents of the safe deposit box under the contract for the renting of the safe deposit box; and
(b)
the employee has acted in good faith and has exercised due care for that purpose,
the bank and the employee shall, for the purposes of determining whether it or he has committed an offence under subsection (2) or (3) by allowing the exercise of that right, be regarded as having acted with lawful authority.
(6)
Subject to
section 60K(9)
, any executor of a deceased person or any
                person entitled in priority to the administration of the estate of a deceased person
who—
(a)
takes possession of, or in any way administers, any part of the estate or
                    the income of any part of the estate within the prescribed period commencing on
                    the date on which the deceased dies; and
(b)
fails to submit within the prescribed period an application in respect of
                    the
estate—
(i)
to the Official Administrator for the exercise of his power under
section 15
;
(ii)
for a grant under
section 24
; or
(iii)
for sealing of a grant under
section 49
,
supported by an affidavit exhibiting a schedule, or a corrective
                    affidavit exhibiting an additional schedule, setting out such part of the
                    estate,
commits an offence.
(7)
Subject to
section 60K(9)
, any executor of a deceased person or any person entitled in priority to the administration of the estate of a deceased person who takes possession of, or in any way administers, any part of the estate or the income of any part of the estate after the expiry of the prescribed period commencing on the date on which the deceased dies without first submitting an application in respect of the
estate—
(a)
to the Official Administrator for the exercise of his power under
section 15
;
(b)
for a grant under
section 24
; or
(c)
for sealing of a grant under
section 49
,
supported by an affidavit exhibiting a schedule, or a corrective affidavit exhibiting an additional schedule, setting out such part of the estate commits an offence.
(8)
In subsections (6) and (7),
prescribed
                    period
(
訂明期間
)—
(Amended
E.R. 5 of 2020
)
(a)
in a case in
which—
(i)
an application to the Official Administrator for the exercise of his
                        power under
section 15
; or
(ii)
an application for a grant under
section 24
,
is made, means 12 months;
(b)
in a case in which an application for sealing of a grant under
section
                        49
is made, means 18 months.
(9)
A person who commits an offence under subsection (2), (3), (6) or (7) shall be liable on conviction
to—
(a)
a fine at level 3; and
(b)
an additional penalty equal to the value
of—
(i)
the relevant part of the relevant estate; or
(ii)
the relevant part of the income of the relevant part of the relevant estate,
as the case may be.