This Act may be cited as the Public Trust Office Amendment Act, 1912, and shall form part of and be read together with the Public Trust Office Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

The Governor may from time to time appoint fit persons (not exceeding four in all) to be Local Deputy Public Trustees, and with respect to each such Local Deputy the following provisions shall apply:—

“The Public Trustee,
“By A.B.,
“Local Deputy Public Trustee at [Auckland],”

The appointment of the Local Deputy, his seal of office, and the signature of the person for the time being holding that office shall be judicially taken notice of without further proof.

No person shall be concerned to inquire whether or not any occasion has arisen requiring or authorizing the Local Deputy to act in that capacity; and all things done or omitted by him shall have the same consequences and effect as if the same had been done or omitted by the Public Trustee.

In order to admit of the moneys in the common fund being kept more closely invested than is at present possible, the Public Trustee may, with the approval of the Minister in each case, obtain advances from the Treasury or the New Zealand State-guaranteed Advances Office or the bank at which the Public Trustee’s account is kept, by hypothecating securities held by him in respect of investments of the common fund.

All such advances (other than those obtained from the bank) shall be made out of moneys available for temporary investment, and under the control of the Treasury or the Superintendent of the New Zealand State-guaranteed Advances Office, as the case may be.

Every such advance shall be for such period, not exceeding four months, and at such rate of interest as are approved by the Minister:

Provided that on the expiration of the said period the advance may be renewed for the same or any shorter period, and so on from time to time.

The total amount of advances under this section outstanding at any one time shall not exceed sixty thousand pounds.

In any case where a fund is raised by public or private subscriptions for the benefit or relief of any person or class of persons, the following provisions shall apply:—

This section shall apply to funds heretofore raised as aforesaid as well as to funds hereafter so raised, and to those funds raised as aforesaid which at the commencement of this Act are being administered in the Public Trust Office.

Where an intestate estate is in the Public Trust Office and there are infants entitled, the following special provisions shall apply in the case of each infant’s share:—

The powers by this section conferred upon the Public Trustee may be exercised without obtaining any order of a Judge of the Supreme Court, and are irrespective of and in addition to all other powers exercisable by him.

The Supreme Court may in any case authorize the making of payments for any of the purposes aforesaid in excess of the limit hereinbefore prescribed.

All payments heretofore made by the Public Trustee in respect of the maintenance, education, or advancement of any infant shall be as valid as if this section had been in operation when they were made.

Where an estate is in the Public Trust Office and any person entitled to a share of that estate desires an advance against his share, the Public Trustee may, out of the Public Trustee’s Account, make advances to that person not exceeding in the whole one-half of the value of the share as estimated by the Public Trustee and approved by the Board.

All such advances with interest thereon at such rate as is agreed on, not exceeding six per centum per annum, shall by force of this Act and without any instrument of assignment be a first charge on the share against which the advances are made.

A certificate under the hand and seal of the Public Trustee stating the amount owing for advances and interest on any specified date, the person to whom the advances were made, and the share against which they were made shall, according to its tenor, be sufficient evidence of the facts until the contrary is proved.

All such advances heretofore made by the Public Trustee shall be as valid as if this section had been in operation when they were made.

Section twenty-nine of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from the proviso to subsection one thereof the words “five hundred,” and substituting therefor the words “one thousand.”

Subsection three of section thirty-two of the principal Act is hereby repealed, and the following subsection is substituted therefor:—

Section thirty-four of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:—

The expression “incumbrances” in the aforesaid section thirty-four shall be construed as from the passing of the principal Act not to have included leases or easements.