PARTITION OF INHERITANCES REGULATIONS

PARTITION OF INHERITANCES

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 308.01

PARTITION OF INHERITANCES REGULATIONS

31st July, 1984

LEGAL NOTICE 35 of 1984.

The title of these regulations is the Partition of Inheritances

Regulations.

The provisions of Title IV of Part I of Book II of the Code

of Organization and Civil Procedure other than article 178 thereof,

and of any regulations made thereunder shall apply mutatis

mutandis to written pleadings and other acts of procedure filed in

or before the Partition of Inheritances Tribunal in so far as those

provisions are not incompatible with the Partition of Inheritances

Act or of any regulation made thereunder.

The application to the Tribunal shall contain

(a) a clear and concise statement of the facts, without

reference to authorities

(i)

each fact shall be stated in a separate paragraph;

(ii)

each paragraph shall be numbered and express

reference shall be made therein to every

document or other evidence touching such facts;

(b) the claim which shall clearly and correctly state the

object thereof.

(a) The application may be filed in the Registry of the

Tribunal by the applicant or one of the applicants and

the facts therein stated shall be confirmed on oath

before the Registrar.

(b) The application shall be signed at the end thereof by

the applicants or by the person duly representing them

on their behalf.

(1) The applicant shall, together with the application,

produce all such documents in support of his claim as it may be in

his power to produce.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subregulation (1),

the applicant shall, with the application, produce

(i)

the death certificate of the person from whom

the inheritance devolves;

(ii) the certificates from the Public Registry and the

Courts showing the will or wills regulating the

succession of the person from whom the

inheritance devolves or that such person died

intestate, as the case may be;

(iii) a copy of each will regulate the succession of the

person from whom the inheritance devolves;

(iv) where the succession has been declared open in

PARTITION OF INHERITANCES

favour of any person by the Second Hall of the

Civil Court or by the Court of voluntary

jurisdiction in Gozo, an authentic copy of the

decree declaring the opening of such succession;

(v)

a statement showing the share of the inheritance

pertaining to each of the co-owners;

(vi)

a genealogical tree showing the relationship of

the co-owners of the property to be partitioned,

with the person from whom the inheritance

devolves, and where any or all the co-owners are

not so related a declaration stating such fact;

(vii)

a list of all the property that is to be partitioned,

and in the case of immovable property a

description thereof together with a plan showing

the location and area of such property;

(viii) a certificate issued by the Commissioner of

Inland Revenue that death duty on the

inheritance has been paid or that the inheritance

is not chargeable under the Death and Donation

Duty Act.

(3) Where any person fails to produce any document in

accordance with this regulation, he may not without leave of the

Tribunal produce such document at any later stage of the

proceedings.

(1) The documents referred to in regulation 5 shall be

accompanied by a note showing the nature of such documents and

the particular proof which it is intended to make thereby.

(2)

Such note shall be served on the opposite party.

(3) This regulation shall apply in all cases where documents

are produced.

(1) Where the respondent does not intend to admit wholly

the claim of the applicant his answer shall contain

(a) any plea as would be taken to be waived if not raised

before the contestation of the suit;

(b)

(i)

a denial, or an admission or explanation of the

circumstances of the fact set out in the

application;

(ii) the provisions of regulation 3(a)(i) and (ii) shall

apply to this sub-paragraph;

(c) a clear and concise statement of the pleas on the merits

of the claim without reference to authorities; and

(d) the demand of the respondents.

(2) The respondent shall produce all such documents in

support of his contentions as it may be in his power to produce.

(3) All documents in support of the pleas shall be produced

together with the answer, and where any such document is not so

produced it may not without leave of the Tribunal be produced at

any later stage of the proceedings.

PARTITION OF INHERITANCES

The parties may, by leave of the Tribunal, by means of a

note state any points of disagreement with the contents of written

pleadings, with documents filed therewith and with the contents of

notes already filed.

The provisions of regulation 4 respecting the application

shall apply also to the answer.

Together with the application and the answer there shall

also be produced by the applicant and respondent respectively a list

of the names of the witnesses the party intends to produce,

including the subpoena of the other party, stating in respect of each

of them the proof he intends to establish by their evidence.

Where the respondent intends to admit the claim wholly

and unconditionally, it shall be sufficient for him to file a note to

that effect.

A copy of the answer together with the documents and

notes filed therewith shall be served on each of the applicants.

No witness may be produced whose name shall not have

been given in the list referred to in regulation 10, unless the

Tribunal is satisfied that the witness was not known to the party at

the time of filing the application or the answer, as the case may be,

or the necessity of producing the witness arises at any time after the

filing of the application or answer.

(1) When the time for filing the answer expires or earlier

if all the respondents have filed the answer to the application, or

when a matter has been transmitted to the Tribunal in terms of

article 9 of the Partition of Inheritances Act, the Tribunal shall set a

date for the hearing of the case and the Secretary shall cause a list

of the cases which are to be heard on a particular sitting of the

Tribunal to be posted up in the Registry of the Tribunal.

(2) Article 192(2) and (3) of section 192 of the Code of

Organization and Civil Procedure shall apply to the list referred to

in subregulation (1).

(3) The Secretary shall cause the parties to be served with a

notice of the day appointed for hearing at least two working days

before the day so fixed.

The fees set out in the Schedules to the Code of

Organization and Civil Procedure shall mutatis mutandis apply to

fees due to the Registry of the Tribunal and advocates, including

persons duly representing the parties in the proceedings, in respect

of causes before the Tribunal, and for the purpose of this regulation

the Partition of Inheritances Tribunal shall be deemed to be a

superior court.