Succession Act 1965 section 13

Vesting of estate between death and grant of administration

Section 13 deals with who holds legal ownership of a deceased person's estate during the gap between the date of death and the formal grant of administration.

• When a person dies without a will (intestate), or dies with a will but no surviving executor, a legal gap in ownership arises.
• During this interim period, the deceased's entire estate — both real property and personal property — automatically vests in the President of the High Court.
• The President of the High Court acts in this capacity as a "corporation sole," meaning the role holds the estate by virtue of the office itself, not as a personal asset of the individual judge.
• This vesting is temporary and lasts only until a grant of administration is formally issued, at which point the estate passes to the appointed administrator.