Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck has revealed that $1.1billion has been paid, so far, in judgement debt for the 2024/25 fiscal year.
He was addressing the recent meeting of the Standing Finance Committee in Gordon House.
“We have another $300 million, so... we can satisfy all the judgment debt. We are extremely happy with the fact that all our mediators are being paid, facilitators... funds are there to satisfy all the obligations of the Ministry of Justice,” he said.
Turning to the Administrator-General’s Department (AGD), the minister said the entity has been urging persons to make wills to ensure a smooth transfer of assets and minimise conflicts among family members.
“During last year, they disposed of properties to beneficiaries valued at $682million, but we have over $45billion in property that can be disposed of if beneficiaries could just come together, settle the matters and more than half of that could be disposed of,” Chuck contended.
“We also have $3.57billion in cash that is sitting there waiting for beneficiaries to settle their matters for some pay-out. I must say we are hoping to put a mediation department at the Administrator-General’s Department where beneficiaries can get together and hopefully settle their differences so that the monies and properties can be settled,” he pointed out.
The minister reminded the public that the Administrator-General has been empowered to administer estates solely comprising personal property not exceeding $1.5million without the need for a Grant of Administration from the Courts.
This increase became effective with the Gazetting of the Administrator-General’s (Maximum Value of Small Estates) (Amendment) Order 2024, on August 29, 2024.
The Administrator-General was previously empowered to administer estates consisting solely of personal property not exceeding $100,000, without the need for a Grant of Administration from the Courts.
