The Short Title of this Act is “The Public Trust Office Acts Amendment Act, 1893.”

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context, “the said Acts” mean “The Public Trust Office Act, 1872,” “The Public Trust Office Act 1872 Amendment Act, 1873,” “The Public Trust Office Act, 1876,” “The Public Trust Office Act 1872 Amendment Act, 1886,” and “The Public Trust Office Acts Amendment Act. 1891.”

Notwithstanding anything contained in the said Acts, or in any other Act, the Public Trustee, in any case where there is to the credit of any estate in the Public Trust Office any real or personal property whether corpus, capital, or income, but there is no money or not sufficient available to make payments required to be made on account of such estate, whether to the persons entitled thereto or to a share or interest therein, or otherwise, then the Public Trustee may, out of the Public Trustee’s Account, advance and pay, for or on account of such estate, any sum of money which he is authorised or required to pay: Provided that no greater amount shall be so advanced and paid than the value of the real and personal property. With respect to the sums so advanced, they shall be a first charge upon real and personal property in the estate, and shall bear interest at the rate of not exceeding six pounds per centum per annum.

The Public Trustee may, if he thinks fit, apply for the maintenance, education, or otherwise for the benefit of any infant, during his or her minority, the whole or any part of the income of the share to which such infant is entitled in possession, whether the same shall arise by intestacy or under a will, or under any trust; and the Public Trustee may, if he thinks fit, apply for the advancement or otherwise for the benefit of an infant any part or parts not exceeding in the whole one-half of the corpus or capital of the share to which any infant is entitled in possession or reversion immediately expectant on a prior life-interest, and whether such share shall arise by intestacy or under a will, or under any trust; but no such application of a reversionary share shall be made without the previous consent in writing of the person on whose death such prior interest shall be determinable:

Provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to the case of a will or any trust whereby provisions are expressly made for the maintenance, education, advancement, or otherwise for the benefit of an infant, or whereby provisions are expressly made against any such application: Provided, further, that where provision is made, but it shall be or become insufficient, then the provisions of this section shall apply.

Nothing contained in section four shall restrict any Court having jurisdiction from making any order for the application of either corpus, capital, or income for the maintenance, education, advancement, or otherwise for the benefit of an infant.

When under the said Acts or under any Act of Parliament the Public Trustee is directed to pay any money, upon an order of Court being obtained, to any person entitled thereto, he may make a payment, if the amount thereof does not exceed fifty pounds, without such order; and any payment so made shall be as valid as if authorised by an order of Court, and the Public Trustee shall be protected as he would be if he had made the payment pursuant to an order of Court.

Section eight of “The Public Trust Office Act Amendment Act, 1891,” is hereby repealed.

Where before or after this Act comes into operation any person has died or shall die intestate leaving real or personal property the estimated value of which in the opinion of the Public Trustee does not, at the time of the election hereinafter mentioned, exceed two hundred and fifty pounds, and no person has taken out administration, the Public Trustee may, in all cases where he is entitled to take out administration, in lieu of taking out letters of administration or obtaining an order to administer, file in the Supreme Court of the district in which the intestate died, or, if the intestate died out of the colony, then in the Supreme Court for the Wellington District, an election in writing setting forth the name, residence, and occupation, so far as then known to the Public Trustee, of the intestate, and of the property of the intestate as then known, and electing to administer such property. Upon such election being filed the Public Trustee shall be deemed to be administrator of the property of the deceased person in all respects as if letters of administration had been regularly granted to the Public Trustee. The Public Trustee shall publish in the Gazette, and elsewhere as he thinks fit, a notice that he has made such election. The Gazette notice shall be conclusive evidence that the Public Trustee has made and filed the election hereinbefore mentioned.

If at any time after commencing to administer any estate under this section the property to be administered shall be found to exceed the value of two hundred and fifty pounds, the Public Trustee shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, file in the Supreme Court a memorandum under his hand stating the fact, and proceed in the ordinary manner to obtain an order for the administration of the estate.

When the Public Trustee is executor or administrator, or is by law authorised to administer the estate of any deceased person, a certificate under his hand, and scaled with his corporate seal, certifying that he has taken out probate or letters of administration or is authorised to administer, and stating the date when such probate or letters of administration were granted, or when and how he became authorised to administer, and the name, residence, and occupation of the deceased person, shall be accepted by all Courts, officers, and other persons, whether acting under any Act or not, as sufficient evidence of the death of the deceased person, and of the appointment of the Public Trustee as executor or administrator, or of his right to administer, without production of any other proof whatever.

When any person dies or has heretofore died, whether testate or intestate, and notwithstanding that some person other than the Public Trustee is appointed executor or is entitled to letters of administration, the Public Trustee may, if he thinks fit, for the protection of the property of the deceased person, until probate or letters of administration are granted, exercise thereover and otherwise all such powers and authorities and do all acts and things as he would have or could exercise or do if he had obtained probate of the will or letters of administration of the estate of the deceased person, save as follows:

The Public Trustee shall not sell, lease, exchange, mortgage, or partition any portion of the real or personal estate, except by sale of such portion of the personal estate as may be of a perishable nature, or which may be ordered to be sold by a Judge of the Supreme Court upon the application of the Public Trustee, and which order a Judge of the Supreme Court is hereby authorised to make. All costs, charges, and expenses incurred by the Public Trustee under this section shall be a first charge upon the property of the deceased person.

Any executor or administrator who takes out letters of administration of the estate of any such person, or who obtains probate of his will, shall, out of any assets which come to his hands, first pay thereout any costs, charges, and expenses which may have been incurred by the Public Trustee in giving effect to this section.

Before the Public Trustee first acts under section ten he shall give notice, in writing or by telegram, to any person in the colony if known to the Public Trustee as a person who (not being an infant, lunatic, or idiot) would be entitled to obtain probate or letters of administration, informing such person that he intends to so act unless such person forthwith proceeds to apply for probate or letters of administration; and if such person does not, within a period of twenty-one days after the posting of such notice or the despatching of such telegram, give notice, in writing or by telegram, to the Public Trustee that he intends to apply for probate or letters of administration, or if such person gives such notice but fails for fourteen days after giving such notice to apply for probate or letters of administration, or makes such application and it fails, then, unless the Court or a Judge shall otherwise order, the Public Trustee may proceed to exercise any of the powers and authorities given by section ten of this Act.

If more persons than one are entitled to take out probate or letters of administration, it shall be sufficient to give notice to one of such persons only.

Nothing herein contained shall, where it is not known to the Public Trustee that there is in the colony any person entitled to obtain probate or letters of administration, or in case of emergency (of which emergency the Public Trustee shall be the sole judge), prevent the Public Trustee from exercising the powers and authorities given by section ten without giving such notice as aforesaid.

Section five of “The Public Trust Office Acts Amendment Act, 1891,” is hereby repealed.

When a testate or intestate estate is under administration, and such administration could be properly closed in a less time than is required by the existing law, the Public Trustee, after giving notice once each week for two weeks in two newspapers at least published or circulating in the county, borough, city, or other district or locality where the deceased shall have resided or carried on business immediately preceding his decease, or, if the deceased died out of the colony, then in such manner as a Judge of the Supreme Court may direct, requiring creditors and others to send in to the Public Trustee their claims against the said estate, may, at the expiration of the time limited in such notice, being not less than two calendar months from the first publication thereof, or, in the case of a person dying out of the colony, within such time, not being less than six months, as a Judge of the Supreme Court may direct, distribute the assets of the deceased, or any part thereof, amongst the persons entitled thereto, having regard to the claims of which the Public Trustee has then notice; and he shall not be liable for the assets, or any part thereof, so distributed to any person of whose claims he shall not have had notice at the time of distribution of the said assets, or a part thereof, as the case may be; but this provision shall not prejudice the rights of any subsequent claimant to establish his right to receive payment from the persons who shall have been paid by the Public Trustee any distributive shares, or the whole residue of the estate, or, in the case of real property, from the person who may have received a conveyance or assurance thereof, or any part thereof, from the Public Trustee in or towards satisfaction of such distributive shares or residue: Provided that if any such estate shall be of less value than fifty pounds it may be distributed or conveyed and assured and dealt with without giving any such notices as aforesaid.

The word “distribute” shall as to real estate mean “convey and assure the real estate to the person or persons entitled thereto,” and the words “distributed” and “distribution” shall mean as to real estate “conveyed and assured the real estate to the person or persons entitled thereto.”

Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the Public Trustee, as executor or as administrator with or without a will annexed or otherwise, from making distribution under any other law or statute, or prejudice the protection thereby afforded where he makes distribution pursuant to such law or statute.

When any Court or Judge, except upon the application of the Public Trustee, makes any order directing property to be paid to the Public Trustee or into the Public Trust Office, or makes any order vesting property in the Public Trustee, or appoints the Public Trustee trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, or committee, it shall be the duty of the person who obtains such order forthwith thereafter to serve upon the Public Trustee or his agent a copy thereof, and to deliver to the Public Trustee or his agent a statement of the property affected by the order, and where such property is situated or by whom held, so far as the same is known to such person; and in default thereof such person shall be liable to a penalty of not exceeding ten pounds unless such person proves that such default was duo to accident or was unavoidable.

It shall be the duty of the Registrar or Deputy-Registrar of the Supreme and Native Land Courts, and of the Clerk of a District Court, to see that a copy of such order is delivered or posted by registered letter to the Public Trustee or his agent, together with a statement of the property affected by such order, and where such property is situated, or in whose possession it is, so far as such Registrar, or Deputy-Registrar, or Clerk can ascertain; and such Registrar, or Deputy-Registrar, or Clerk shall, at the time of making an order, ascertain, by such ways and means as he thinks best (and jurisdiction is given hereby for that purpose), the property affected by the order, and where such property is situated, and in whose possession it is.

When any corporation, association, or person is in possession of any real or personal property of a deceased person, or where there is to the credit of any deceased person in the books or accounts or otherwise of any corporation, association, or partnership any property or money, or where under any partnership or association any deceased person is entitled to a share in the assets thereof, or his representatives are entitled to any payment as the share in such assets, or where any deceased person is the registered proprietor of any shares in any corporation or association, or where any person is indebted to any deceased person, if such property, money, shares, or debts are vested in or belong to the Public Trustee, and such corporation, association, or person knows that such property is vested in or belongs to the Public Trustee, and doos not within a reasonable time after such knowledge give notice to the Public Trustee or his agent of the extent, nature, and situation of such property, then such corporation, association, or person shall be liable to pay to the Public Trustee, as from the time when such notice ought to have been given, interest upon the value of such property after such rate as shall be determined by the Court in which any proceeding may be taken to enforce the same, unless such corporation, association, or person proves to the satisfaction of the Court that the failure to give such notice was due to accident or was unavoidable, or that no loss or damage has been occasioned to the Public Trustee in consequence of such notice not having been given: Provided that the Public Trustee may in any case remit such payment of interest. This provision shall not apply to any officer of the Government as such officer.

When any person dies testate or intestate, and application for probate or letters of administration is not made within three months after the death of such person, the Public Trustee may apply for letters of administration, and the Court may grant such letters of administration unless the person entitled thereto shall apply for such probate or administration, or show to the satisfaction of the Court that the delay in making such application has been and still is unavoidable or accidental. Upon such an application no costs shall be awarded against the Public Trustee.

Except in so far as by this Act it is expressly otherwise provided, all powers and authorities conferred by the said Acts or by any other statutes or laws upon any Court or Judge, or upon the Public Trustee or any other person, shall remain unrestricted, and the provisions of this Act shall be read and construed as conferring upon such Courts, Judges, and the Public Trustee or other persons the powers and authorities hereby provided by way of addition to and not in derogation of any powers and authorities conferred by the said Acts or by any other statutes or laws, and so that the powers and authorities conferred by the said Acts, statutes, or laws, and by this Act, shall be capable of being exercised independently the one of the other, or in aid the one of the other; but, nevertheless, the provisions of this Act shall not be restricted by the said Acts, statutes, or laws.

Whereas prior to the passing of “The Auckland Hospital Reserves Act, 1883,” portions of the land described in the Schedule to that Act had by the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland been leased under statutory powers, and such leases, or some of them, contained covenants by the lessor to the effect that any building or erection which might be standing on the land leased and erected by virtue of the lease at the expiration of the term should be then fairly valued as thereby provided, and the amount of such valuation should be paid to the lessee: And whereas doubts have arisen whether such covenants are valid: And whereas some of the said leases have by effluxion of time expired, and pursuant to such covenants valuations have been made, and such valuations in the aggregate amount to the sum of one thousand two hundred and twenty-five pounds: And whereas in good faith such sum ought to be paid, but the Public Trustee has no fund out of which the same can be lawfully paid, and it is just that provision should be made for such payment:

Be it therefore further enacted as follows:—