Public Trustee - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition public-trustee

Definition :

Public trustee. The office of Public Trustee was established by the (English) Public Trustee Act, 1906, which came into force on 1st January, 1908. The Public Trustee is a corporation sole, and may if he thinks fit act in the administration of estates of deceased persons if under one thousand pounds; act as custodian trustee [see that title, and Re Cherry's Trusts, (1914) 1 Ch 83]; act as an ordinary trustee; be appointed to be a judicial trustee (see that title); be appointed administrator of the property of a convict under the Forfeiture Act, 1870; and he may also be appointed an executor and obtain a grant of probate (s. 5). He may be appointed a trustee whether the trust instrument came into operation before or after the Act, and either as an original or a new trustee, or as an additional trustee, in the same cases and manner and by the same persons or Court as if he were a private trustee, with this addition--that he may be appointed sole trustee although the trustees originally appointed were two or more; but he cannot be appointed a new or additional trustee when the trust instrument directs the contrary unless the court otherwise order, and notice of any proposed appointment must be given to the beneficiaries; see s. 5. The Public Trustee may decline to accept any trust, but not on the ground only of the small value of the trust property; and he cannot, except under certain conditions (see Rule 7), accept a trust which involves the carrying on of any business, nor a trust under a deed of arrangement, nor the administration of an insolvent estate, nor a trust exclusively for religious or charitable purposes [s. 2, sub-sections (3), (4), (5)] The Con-solidated Fund is, speaking generally, liable to make good all sums required to discharge any liability which the Public trustee, if he were a private trustee, would be personally liable to discharge (s. 7). By s. 13 an investigation and audit of trust accounts may be made at the instance of any trustee or beneficiary, by some agreed solicitor or accountant, and in default of agreement by the Public Trustee or some person appointed by him; and there is an important provision in s. 3 (4), under which the Public Trustee can take the opinion of the court on any question arising in the course of his administration of an estate. The Act does not extend to Ireland or Scotland [s. 17 (2)], and the Public Trustee cannot accept the trustee-ship of any settlement other than an English one [Re Hewitt's Settlement, (1915) 1 Ch 228]. For the Act and the Rules made thereunder, see Ann. Pr. The head office is situate in Kingsway, W.C., and there is a branch office in Albert Square, Manchester. A pamphlet giving full information as to the work of the Department can be obtained on application at the head office, or at any Post Office.

The Public Trustee in the person is whom the legal estate is (in the first instance) to vest in certain cases of undivided shares, inland and in fancy subsisting on the 1st January, 1926, under the transitory provisions of the Law of Property Act, 1925, s. 39, and see 1st Sch.

For the Powers of the Public Trustee in opening accounts in the Post Office Savings Bank, see Post Office Savings Bank (Public Trustee) Act, 1908.

Banks and insurance companies of great financial strength act as trustees at charges somewhat lower than those payable to the Public Trustee, and, it is believed, with equal efficiency. See CUSTODIAN TRSUTEE; TRUST CORPORATION.