Administrator General's Act, 1913

The Administrator General's Act, 1913 sets up the office of Administrator General in each province of Pakistan - a government official who steps in to administer the estates of deceased persons, particularly non-Muslims (called "exempted persons" under Section 2, defined as Pakistani Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, or Buddhists, or anyone otherwise exempted from the Succession Act, 1925). Section 3 requires each Provincial Government to appoint an Administrator General, who under Section 5 has the legal status of a "corporation sole" - a single-person legal entity with perpetual succession that can sue and be sued in its own name.

Part III sets out the Administrator General's rights and duties in detail. Section 7 provides that letters of administration granted by the High Court generally go to the Administrator General unless they are granted to the deceased's next-of-kin, and Section 8 gives the Administrator General priority over ordinary creditors, non-universal legatees, or friends of the deceased in claiming administration. Sections 9-14 cover when the Administrator General must step in to administer an estate, and the process for doing so, including a one-month window (Section 14) during which the Administrator General is not barred from applying for letters even after other steps have been taken.

Sections 18-21 cover revocation of the Administrator General's authority - for example, if an executor or next-of-kin later comes forward - including how costs are handled on revocation (Section 19) and what happens to payments the Administrator General already made before revocation (Section 21). Sections 31-38 create a separate, lighter-weight mechanism: the Administrator General can issue a "certificate" (rather than full letters of administration) to creditors or others with a claim on a small estate, and Section 34 explains the legal effect of such a certificate.

Part V (Sections 44-47) requires the Administrator General's accounts to be independently audited, with auditors empowered to summon witnesses and call for documents. Section 52, in the extract's tail section, provides that assets left unclaimed for twelve years are to be transferred to the Government, with Section 53 setting out how a claimant can later recover that money. Section 55 clarifies that the Succession Act, 1925 and the Companies Act do not override the Administrator General's rights and duties under this Act.

This is a specialised probate/estate-administration law, over a century old, with a long history of amendments (most substantially the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Ordinance, 1981) reflected throughout its footnotes; it should be read alongside the Succession Act, 1925 for a full picture of how estates are administered in Pakistan.