§ MR. SEARS (Cheltenham)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that there is no principal probate registry in Edinburgh for Scotland similar to the one in London for England; and if he will say how the Death Duties are dealt with there in the absence of such a registry; whether affidavits, or inventories as they are called in Scotland, are received at the Estate Duty Office direct and without passing through any probate registry; whether affidavits are received in Scotland by collectors of Inland Revenue direct and without the intervention of a district probate registry, duly accepted, and the document sent to the Comptroller, Estate Duty Office at Edinburgh, for stamping, and resort had to the Sheriff Clerk only after the fact for the grant of confirmation and making copies of the account and wills; whether this system is in use in Scotland; and, if so, will he consider whether it can be introduced into England; and, if not, what are the circumstances which render the system unsuitable in this country.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. ASQUITH, Fifeshire, E.)I find that in Scotland the duties of the Principal and District Probate Registrars are performed by the Commissary Clerk in Edinburgh and the Sheriff Clerks in the provinces. There exists, however, this distinction between the two countries, that, whereas in England the district registries are merely branches of the Central Registry, in Scotland the Commissary Clerk exercises no jurisdiction whatever over the Sheriff Clerks, although if an executor so desires he may have his case dealt with in Edinburgh instead of in the provinces. Direct receipt of inventories in Scotland by the Estate Duty Office occurs only in the case of mortgages. This is due to the fact that under Scottish law a mortgage is permitted to pass without a grant of probate, and there is therefore no necessity for any official intervention other than that of the Estate Duty Office. In all other cases 121 the duties of Inland Revenue officers in connection with the assessment and collection of Death Duties are the same in both Scotland and England.