Section 44. Upon complaint to a probate court by a person interested in the estate of a deceased person against a person suspected of having fraudulently received, concealed, embezzled or conveyed away any property, real or personal, of the deceased, the court may cite such suspected person, although he is executor or administrator, to appear and be examined on oath upon the matter of the complaint. If the person so cited refuses to appear and submit to examination, or to answer such interrogatories as may be lawfully propounded to him, the court may commit him to jail until he submits to the order of the court. The examination shall be had and recorded in such manner as the court shall direct, and the final record shall be signed by the party examined. A proceeding hereunder shall be entitled ''petition for discovery''.
Structure Massachusetts General Laws
Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases
Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers
Section 1 - Divisions; Definitions; Courts of Record
Section 2 - Superior Jurisdiction; Presumption
Section 3 - Courts and Their Jurisdictions; General Provisions
Section 5 - Courts and Their Jurisdictions; French Spoliation Awards
Section 6 - Courts and Their Jurisdictions; Equity Jurisdiction
Section 6a - Courts and Their Jurisdictions; Attachment by Injunction
Section 7 - Attachment of Jurisdiction; Control of Case
Section 8a - Courts and Their Jurisdictions; Change of Venue
Section 9 - Persons Entitled to Appeal
Section 9a - Fiduciaries; Acts During Appeal Period
Section 10 - Appellate Procedure
Section 11 - Appeals; Report of Facts
Section 13 - Reservation and Report of Case to Appeals Court
Section 14 - Interlocutory Judgments and Decrees; Revision on Appeal From Final Judgments or Decrees
Section 17 - Appeals; Insolvent Estates
Section 18 - Appeals; Stenographers; Appointment
Section 19 - Consolidation of Appeals by Appellant
Section 20 - Consolidation of Appeals by Court
Section 22 - Effect of Appeal; Interlocutory Orders
Section 23 - Effect of Appeal; Equity Cases
Section 24 - Effect of Appeal; Separate Support and Custody Cases
Section 25 - Removal of Fiduciary; Effect of Appeal
Section 26 - Appeals; Decree; Force and Effect
Section 27 - Pending Appeals; Modification of Decrees
Section 28 - Appeals; Reversal or Affirmance
Section 30 - Rules and Forms; Power of Judges to Make
Section 31 - Notice of Hearing; Rule Making Power of Courts
Section 32 - Transaction of Business Out of Court
Section 33 - Notice; Ex Parte Matters
Section 34b - Review of Contempt Order Prior to Order of Confinement
Section 35 - Warrants and Commissions; Revocation
Section 36 - Judgments, Decrees and Orders; Necessity of Writing; Notices; Recording
Section 37 - Docket and Index; Manner of Keeping; Public Inspection
Section 39 - Administration of Estates; Compensation for Services; Power to Determine and Enforce
Section 39a - Attorneys' Fees; Power of Court to Determine
Section 39b - Attorneys' Fees; Allowance
Section 40 - Resignation or Removal of Fiduciary; Power to Compel Surrender of Property
Section 41 - Temporary Investments
Section 41a - Distribution of Limited Funds of Estates to Parents of Minors
Section 44 - Concealed Property; Examination of Suspects Under Oath
Section 46 - Summons or Citation; Service by Registered Mail
Section 49 - Notices; Selection of Newspapers
Section 50 - Receipts and Releases of Fiduciaries; Recording; Fees
Section 52 - Original Will; Taking From Registry
Section 53 - Court Room and Room for Records; Duty to Provide
Section 54 - Rooms for Records; Additional Space
Section 55 - Preservation of Dockets and Indexes
Section 56 - Recording of Proceedings in Suffolk; Expense
Section 57 - Sessions of the Courts; Contempt Powers of Judge, Etc.
Section 58 - Sessions of the Courts; Open Times
Section 59 - Sessions of the Courts; Adjournment
Section 60 - Sessions of the Courts; Holidays and Election Days