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PART II
Administration (ss 4-11)
[Ch3101s4]4. Appointment of Master
The President shall appoint an officer to be styled the Master of the High Court.
The President may appoint one or more Assistant Masters to exercise such of the functions of the Master under this Act or any other law as the Master may from time to time direct.
[Ch3101s6]6. Jurisdiction of Master
All the property and estate of every deceased person, minor, person under curatorship, or person permanently absent from Botswana without a lawful representative therein and whose whereabouts are unknown, shall be administered under the exclusive supervision of the Master.
[Ch3101s7]7 Master to keep registers of executors, etc.
The Master shall cause to be kept-
(a) a register containing the names of every executor to whom letters of administration have been granted, and every surety for any executor;
(b) a register containing the names of every administrator to whom a certificate of authority has been granted, and every surety for any administrator; and
(c) a register containing the names of every tutor and curator to whom letters of confirmation have been granted, and every surety for any such tutor or curator.
[Ch3101s8]8. Records of Master's office
(1) The Master shall preserve a record in his office of all original wills, death notices, inventories, and liquidation, administration and distribution accounts lodged at his office under this Act or any prior law under which any such documents were customarily lodged or were required to be lodged at the office of the Master:
Provided that when the Master is satisfied that the administration of any estate or assets subject to his supervision in accordance with this Act has been finally completed according to law and that 10 years have elapsed since such completion, he may cause to be lodged with the National Archives and Record Services any file relating to such estate or assets which has been kept in his office, together with its contents.
(2) Any person may at any time during office hours inspect any such documents and make or obtain a copy thereof or an extract therefrom on payment of the fees prescribed in respect thereof by the Second Schedule:
Provided that any person holding office under the Government may, in the course of his official duties, take a copy of or an extract from any such documents without payment of any fee.
(3) Whenever an order for sequestration has, under any law in force in Botswana for the time being relating to insolvent estates, been lodged with the Master or the estate of any debtor has been placed under assignment, in accordance with any law so in force, the Master shall cause the said registers to be examined and-
(a) if an insolvent or such a debtor is the executor of an estate not previously administered, distributed, and finally settled, the Master shall notify the fact in the Gazette;
(b) if an insolvent or such a debtor is either a tutor or curator, the Master may take steps for the appointment of a tutor or curator dative in the place of that insolvent or debtor;
(c) if an insolvent or such a debtor is a surety for an executor, tutor or curator, the Master may by notice require that executor, tutor or curator to find additional security to his satisfaction within a period specified in such notice.
[Ch3101s9]9. Appointment of appraisers
(1) The Master may from time to time appoint such persons as he thinks fit to be appraisers for the valuation of property, and revoke any appointment so made.
(2) Every appraiser shall, in respect of every appraisement by him, be entitled to demand and receive a reasonable compensation, which shall be assessed according to a tariff of fees fixed by regulation, and shall be taxed by the Master.
[Ch3101s10]10. Oath of appraisers, and restriction on action
(1) Every person who is appointed an appraiser under section 9(1) shall take an oath before the Master or a commissioner of oaths designated by him that he will appraise all such estates or properties as may be submitted to his valuation according to the just, proper, and true valuation thereof and to the best of his skill and knowledge.
(2) Any commissioner of oaths before whom any such oath has been taken shall forthwith transmit the same to the Master.
(3) No appraiser shall act in connection with any property in which or in the valuation of which-
(a) he or his spouse or partner has any pecuniary interest other than his remuneration as appraiser; or
(b) his principal or employer or any person related to him within the third degree has any pecuniary interest.
The Master is hereby authorized and required to charge and to demand, receive and retain, or recover in respect of the acts, matters or things done or caused to be done by him or in his office, the fees specified in the tariff contained in the Second Schedule, and every such fee shall be paid by the means prescribed.
