GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The National Assembly has unanimously passed legislation amending the Deceased Persons Estate Administration Act to allow better access to monies left by deceased persons.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, tabled the bill on Monday and said that this intervention stems from consultations with the general public and other stakeholders, including the Bar Association of Guyana.
Under current legislation, when a person dies, their assets become part of their estate. A legal process is typically required to manage and distribute these assets. If the deceased person left a will, an executor must apply for probate to oversee the estate according to the will’s instructions.
Without a will, a person must apply for letters of administration to manage and distribute the estate.
“Our law, before 2022, provided that without a letter of administration or probate, one of the authorized persons could have gone to a bank where the deceased had an account and had money in it but could have only withdrawn GUY$250 (One Guyana dollar=US$0.04 cents),” Nandlall said, adding “when this act was passed nearly 100 years ago, GUY$250 was a substantial sum of money”.
However, historically, smaller estates were subject to the same costly administrative processes as larger ones.
To alleviate this burden, in 2022, the government increased the threshold to GUY$ 750,000, allowing beneficiaries to access up to that amount from bank accounts without needing letters of administration.
This 2024 amendment now takes it a step further, simplifying the process for beneficiaries and allowing them to access funds more quickly and efficiently.
“This amendment is simply intended to expand the category of places to as wide as possible, moving it from the narrow focus of a bank account to anywhere else,” Nandlall said, noting that the amendment now includes credit unions, co-op society, the National Insurance Scheme, and other holdings.
Culture, Youth, and Sports Minister Charles Ramson Jr explained that the amendment would alleviate the financial burden on many families by eliminating the need for legal fees, funeral costs, or other unexpected expenses associated with losing a loved one.
“This bill comes from the grassroots of our immediate and direct engagements with people. In situations where the death is unexpected, especially when the other person is in a vulnerable situation, they must have access to the means to support themselves in the interim if, for example, they have to get letters of administration or probate,” he said.
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