Section 12
Executor of executor represents original testator
of Probate and Administration Act 1959
An executor of a sole or last surviving executor of a testator is the executor of that testator:
Provided that this provision shall not apply to an executor who does not prove the will of his testator, and, in the case of an executor who on his death leaves surviving him some other executor of his testator who afterwards proves the will of that testator, it shall cease to apply on probate being granted.
(2)
So long as the chain of representation is unbroken, the last executor in the chain is the executor of every preceding executor.
(3)
The chain of representation is broken by—
(a)
an intestacy;
(b)
the failure of a testator to appoint an executor; or
(c)
the failure to obtain probate of a will, but is not broken by a temporary grant of administration if probate is subsequently granted.
(4)
Every person in the chain of representation to a testator—
(a)
has the same rights in respect of the estate of that testator as the original executor would have had if living; and
(b)
is, to the extent to which the estate of that testator has come to his hands, answerable as if he were an original executor.