Related documents
- Is amended by 24th Annual Supplement

LAWS OF KENYA
LAW OF SUCCESSION ACT
THE PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION RULES
LEGAL NOTICE 104 OF 1980
- Published in Kenya Gazette Vol. LXXXIII—No. 28 on 11 July 1980
- Commenced on 1 July 1981
- [Amended by The Replacement of Third Schedule to the Probate and Administration Rules, 1982 (Legal Notice 68 of 1982) on 28 May 1982]
- [Amended by The Probate and and Administration (Amendment) Rules, 1992 (Legal Notice 223 of 1992) on 7 August 1992]
- [Amended by The Probate and Administration (Amendment) Rules, 1995 (Legal Notice 266 of 1995) on 21 July 1995]
- [Amended by The Probate and Administration Rules-Replacement of Third Schedule, I995 (Legal Notice 295 of 1995) on 25 August 1995]
- [Amended by The Probate and Administration (Amendment of the Fifth Schedule) Rules, 2002 (Legal Notice 39 of 2002) on 22 March 2002]
- [Amended by The Probate and Administration (Amendment) Rules, 2002 (Legal Notice 143 of 2002) on 9 August 2002]
- [Amended by The Probate and Administration (Amendment) Rules, 2017 (Legal Notice 269 of 2017) on 17 November 2017]
- [Revised by 24th Annual Supplement (Legal Notice 221 of 2023) on 31 December 2022]
Part I – PRELIMINARY
1. Citation and commencement
These Rules may be cited as the Probate and Administration Rules and shall come into operation upon the date of commencement of the Act.2. Interpretation
In these Rules, except where the context otherwise requires—"applicant" means a person who is applying or has applied for a grant or other relief under the Act or these Rules;"authenticated copy" of a document means a copy of the document which is printed, type-written or produced in a permanent form by a photographic process and which bears at foot a certificate in Form 29 signed and dated by a judge, magistrate, the registrar or a deputy registrar of the High Court, the registrar-General or a deputy or assistant registrar-general;"authorized agent" means an agent authorized by his principal in writing;"caveator" has the meaning assigned to it by rule 15(2);"certified copy" has the same meaning as "authenticated copy" save that the certificate may alternatively be signed by an advocate;"child" has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(2) of the Act;"citor" means the person seeking the issue of a citation under Part VI;"court" means a judge of the High Court or a resident magistrate;"district registrar" means a deputy registrar of the High Court and also an executive officer of the Resident Magistrate’s Court or other official for the time being appointed by the Chief Justice to have charge of the administration of a High Court district registry or a resident magistrate’s registry;"district registry" means a registry other than the principal registry;"Form" means the appropriate form set out in the First Schedule;"grant" means a grant of representation, whether a grant of probate or of letters of administration with or without a will annexed, to the estate of a deceased person;"High Court district registry" means a registry of the High Court other than the principal registry;"letters of administration" means letters of administration intestate or with the will annexed;"Mombasa registry" means the probate registry of the High Court at Mombasa;"objector" means a person who has lodged an objection under rule 17 to the issue of a grant;"personal applicant" means an applicant (not being a trust corporation or the Public Trustee) who has applied for a grant otherwise than through an advocate;"personal representative" means a person to whom a grant of representation has been made and is still subsisting;"prescribed fee" means the appropriate fee prescribed in the Third Schedule;"principal registry" means the principal probate registry of the High Court at Nairobi;"protester" means a person who has filed a protest under rule 40(6) against the confirmation of a grant;"registrar" means the registrar of the High Court (who shall be the registrar of the principal registry and is herein referred to as the principal registrar) or a district registrar;"registry" means a probate registry of the High Court or of the Resident Magistrate’s Court and includes the principal registry;"resident magistrate’s registry" means a district registry for the time being attached to the Resident Magistrate’s Court;"signed" in relation to a will includes the affixing of a mark or thumbprint;"will" includes a codicil;"written will" means a will the entire of which is written, and does not include any oral instructions or observations given or made by the testator or any person by his direction prior to or at the time of execution of the will.Part II – THE REGISTRIES
3. Probate registries
4. Duties of district registrars in relation to principal registry
5. Record of grants to be maintained at principal registry
A record shall be kept in the principal registry of every grant issued by that registry and every district registry and shall be open to public inspection upon payment of the prescribed fee.6. Depository for wills of living persons
Part III – APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS OF REPRESENTATION
7. Application for grant: general provisions
8. Application for grant made through advocate
9. Personal application for grant
10. Application for order presuming death
An application for an order presuming the death of a person of whose death there is no sufficient written evidence and to whose estate a grant is sought shall be made by summons to the court and shall be supported by an affidavit setting out the grounds of the application.11. Application for grant in additional names
Where it is desired to describe the deceased in a grant by more names than one the applicant shall state in the application the usual name or names of the deceased and shall also state the reason for the inclusion of the other name or names in the grant.12. Application for limited grant under Fifth Schedule to the Act
An application for a grant of representation to be limited in any of the several respects described in the Fifth Schedule to the Act shall be by petition in the appropriate Form and shall be supported by such evidence by affidavit in Form 19 as is required by these Rules including such evidence as is sufficient to establish the existence of the facts and circumstances relative to the particular respect in which the grant is to be limited.13. Application for proof of oral will
14. Amendment or withdrawal of application for grant
Part IV – CAVEATS AND OBJECTIONS TO APPLICATIONS FOR THE MAKING OR CONFIRMING OF GRANTS
15. Caveats, objections and warnings
16. Notice to court of facts relevant to application for grant
17. Objections, answers and cross-applications
Part V – RENUNCIATION
18. Renunciation of probate or of right to apply for administration
19. Where one of several executors neither renounces nor applies for grant
20. Death of executor who has not renounced
Where an executor has predeceased the testator or has survived the testator but has died before a grant is applied for and without having renounced, a certificate or other evidence acceptable to the court of the death of such executor shall, unless the court for reasons to be recorded otherwise directs, be filed before the making of the grant.Part VI – CITATIONS
21. Citations generally
22. Citation to accept or refuse or to take a grant
23. Citation to propound a document as a will
24. Order to bring in a will or to attend for examination
Part VII – MAKING OF GRANTS
25. Signing, sealing and issue of grants
26. Grants of letters of administration
27. Exceptions to rules as to priority
Nothing in rule 26 shall operate to prevent a grant being made to any person to whom a grant may be made, or may be required to be made, under the Act.28. Grant where deceased died domiciled outside Kenya
Where the deceased died domiciled outside Kenya, the court may make a grant—29. Court may require to be satisfied as to solvency of administrator
30. Evidence of foreign law
Where evidence of the law of a country outside Kenya is required on any application for a grant, the affidavit of any person who practises, or has practised, as a barrister, solicitor, advocate or other legal practitioner in that country and who is conversant with its law may be accepted by the court unless the deponent is a person claiming to be entitled to the grant or his attorney, or is the spouse of any such person or attorney:Provided that the court may in special circumstances accept the affidavit of some other person who does not otherwise possess the qualifications required by this rule if the court is satisfied, on grounds to be recorded, that by reason of such person’s official position or otherwise he has knowledge of the relevant law of the country in question.31. Grant to attesting witness
Where a gift to any person fails by reason of section 13(2) of the Act, such person shall not have any right to a grant as a beneficiary named in the will, but such failure shall not of itself prejudice his right to a grant in any other capacity.32. Grant intestate on behalf of infant
33. Grant where infant a co-executor
Where one of two or more executors is an infant, probate may be granted by the court to the other executor or executors not under disability, with power reserved of making the like grant to the infant on his attaining the age of eighteen years; and administration with the will annexed for the use and benefit of the infant until he attains the age of eighteen years may be granted by the court only if the executor or executors who is or are not under disability renounce or, on being cited to accept or refuse a grant, fail to make an effective application therefor.34. Infant’s right to probate not to be renounced on his behalf
An infant executor’s right to probate on attaining the age of eighteen years may not be renounced by any person on his behalf.35. Grant to trust corporation
36. Grant ad colligenda bona under s. 67 of the Act
37. Temporary grant by resident magistrate under s. 49 of the Act
38. Grant under rule 36 or 37 not to prejudice making of full grant
39. Right of assignee to a grant
Part VIII – CONFIRMATION, SEALING, RECTIFICATION AND REVOCATION OF GRANTS
40. Application for confirmation of grant
41. Hearing of application for confirmation
42. Sealing of grant issued in another country
43. Rectification of grant
44. Revocation or annulment of grant
Part IX – APPLICATIONS UNDER SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF THE ACT
45. Application under s. 26 of the Act
46. Application under s. 35(3) of the Act
47. Applications under s. 61(1) or 75 of the Act
48. Application under s. 61(2) of the Act
49. Applications not otherwise provided for
A person desiring to make an application to the court relating to the estate of a deceased person for which no provision is made elsewhere in these Rules shall file a summons supported if necessary by affidavit.Part X – PROVISIONS RELATING TO WILLS
50. Wills registers
At every registry there shall be maintained a register called the wills register for that registry in which the following information shall be recorded relating to every will of a deceased person in regard to which an application is made—51. Retention of original wills of deceased
All original wills, or court authenticated copies thereof, of which probate or letters of administration with the will annexed have been granted by or applied for in any registry, shall be retained by and preserved among the records of that registry unless removed therefrom pursuant to regulations made under these Rules.52. Marking of wills and furnishing of translations
I (A. B.) a ..................................... (occupation) of ................................... (full address) declare that I have read and perfectly understood the language and character of the original will of, ................................................................... (name of deceased) which is written in the ............... language and that the above is a true and accurate English translation thereof. |
53. Engrossment of wills for purposes of record
54. Evidence as to due execution of written will
55. Evidence as to terms, conditions and date of execution of written will
56. Apparent revocation of written or oral will
Any appearance of attempted revocation of a written will by burning, tearing or otherwise, and every other circumstance leading to a presumption of revocation of a written will by the testator, and every fact or circumstance leading to a presumption of revocation of an oral will by the testator, shall be accounted for to the satisfaction of the court.57. Affidavit of facts relative to rules 54, 55 and 56
Part XI – LITIGIOUS PROCEEDINGS
58. Title and cause number of proceedings
59. Form of proceedings
60. Entry of appearance
Every interested person (whether or not he has been served with notice thereof) who wishes to be heard upon or to oppose any application, and has not already appeared in the proceedings, shall enter an appearance in Form 26 in the registry in which the application is made giving his address for service, and may file such affidavits as he considers proper, to each of which the applicant may with leave of the court file an affidavit in reply.61. Application to be considered by registrar
62. Registrar may hear application or transfer it to court
63. Application of Civil Procedure Rules and High Court (Practice and Procedure) Rules
64. Application of African customary law
Where during the hearing of any cause or matter any party desires to provide evidence as to the application or effect of African customary law he may do so by the production of oral evidence or by reference to any recognized treatise or other publication dealing with the subject, notwithstanding that the author or writer thereof shall be living and shall not be available for cross-examination.Part XII – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
65. Service of documents
66. Affidavits
Where provision is made in any rule for the filing by any person of an affidavit for a specific purpose that provision shall be construed as enabling that person in a proper case to file more affidavits than one for that purpose.67. Enlargement of time
Where any period is fixed or granted by these Rules or by an order of the court for the doing of any act or thing, the court upon request or of its own motion may from time to time enlarge such period notwithstanding that the period originally fixed or granted may have expired.68. Official copies of wills, grants and other documents
Where copies of any documents lodged, filed or issued in or from a registry are required such copies may, subject to the provisions of these Rules, be obtained from the registry, and such may be photographic copies with the seal of the registry and certified under the hand of a registrar to be true copies.69. Costs
The costs of all proceedings under these Rules shall be in the discretion of the court.70. Forms
The forms set out in the First Schedule, with such adaptations, additions and amendments as may be necessary, shall, when appropriate, be used in all proceedings under these Rules:Provided that the Chief Justice may be notice in the Gazette vary the forms and prescribe such other or additional forms as he thinks fit.71. Court fees
72. Application of Rules to pending proceedings
73. Saving of inherent powers of court
Nothing in these Rules shall limit or otherwise affect the inherent power of the court to make such orders as may be necessary for the ends of justice or to prevent abuse of the process of the court.74. Revocation
The Probate and Administration (Contested Suits) Rules, 1940, (G.N. 264/1940) are revoked.History of this document
31 December 2022 this version
Revised by
24th Annual Supplement
17 November 2017
09 August 2002
22 March 2002
25 August 1995
21 July 1995
07 August 1992
28 May 1982
01 July 1981
Commenced