178.—(1) A creditor shall not be entitled to claim from the Board of Trade the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice, or any part thereof, by virtue of representation obtained as creditor.

(2) A creditor shall not be entitled by any means whatever to obtain payment of his debt out of the property, if the debt accrued more than three years before the death of the deceased, or if the demand is not made within two years after the death.

(3) The demand shall be made by the creditor delivering to the Board of Trade an account in writing in a form approved by the Board, stating the particulars of his demand and the place of his abode, and signed by him and verified by a statutory declaration.

(4) If before the demand is made, any claim to the property of the deceased made by any person has been allowed, that Board shall give notice to the creditor of the allowance of the claim.

(5) If no claim has been allowed, the Board of Trade shall investigate the creditor’s account, and may for that purpose require him to prove the same, and to produce all books, accounts, vouchers, and papers relating thereto; and if by means of them the creditor satisfies the Board of Trade of the justice of the demand, either in the whole or in part, the same shall be allowed and paid accordingly, so far as the property then in the hands of the Board of Trade will extend for that purpose, and the Board of Trade shall thereby be discharged from all further liability in respect of money so paid; but if the Board are not satisfied as to the claim, or if such books, accounts, vouchers, or papers as aforesaid are not produced, and sufficient reason is not given for their non-production, the demand shall be disallowed.

(6) In any case whatever the Board of Trade may delay the investigation of any demand made by a creditor for the payment of his debt for one year from the time of the first delivery of the demand; and if in the course of that time a claim to the property of the deceased is made by any person as widow, next-of-kin, or legatee, and allowed by the Board of Trade under this Act, the Board of Trade may pay and deliver the same to that person.

(7) Where the property has been paid and delivered by the Board of Trade to any person as a widow, next-of-kin, or legatee of the deceased, whether before or after the demand made by the creditor, the creditor shall have the same rights and remedies against that person as if he had received the property as the legal personal representative of the deceased.