PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4598, 7 September 1923, Page 4

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

IMPORTANT REDUCTIONS. Concessions of an important nature have been decided upon by the Public Trust Office. Many classes of fees charged in addition to commission for the administration of estates have been a' olished. In a statement on the position the Public Trustee states: “ The principal aim' of the Public Trust Office is to render efficient service to its clients and not to an a.ss profits, and whenever the surplus of revenue over expenditure has warranted the granting of concessions this has been done, either bv increasing the return to beneficiaries w amounts held in the common fund or by a reduction in the charges made for the administration of estates. In 1921 the rate of interest on amounts hekl in the common fund was raised and the methods under which the interest was computed were made more liberal. The value of the concessions then given to estates and beneficiaries was estimated at £57,500. "Many classes of fees charged by the Public Trustee in addition to the commission for the administration of estates have been abolished. Such fe<v include those • charge.! for the obtaining of grants of administration, the preparation and filing of stamp accounts, the supervision of repairs to pioperties. the settlement, of mortgages, the registering of the Public Trustee’s title to property, and the preparation of conditions of sale. “It ha,s.also been decided to abolish the charges made fbr the inspection of rural properties by the office rangers, except in very special cases where a charge may be warranted. "In future the charges by way of commission may be said to practically cover up the whole services of the office for the administration of an estate, with the addition, of course, of any actual out of pocket expenses incurred. Apart from the abolition of the special fees the commission charged for 't,he administration of estates, particularly those of substantia! value, have been considerably reduced. The charges are based upon the realisation or transfer of assets in estates, or upon the collection of income. “The following statement will indicate the extent of t,he reductions now decided upon :—Charges upon the Capital of Estates when Realised; The commission charged on amounts from £5OOO to £lO,OOO has been reduced from 2% per cent, to 1% per ■ cent.; the charge on amounts from £lO,OOO to £50,000 has been reduced from per cent, to 1 per cent.; the charge on amounts in excess of £50,000 has been reduced from 1% per cent, to % per cent. These reductions apply in the case of any testate or intestate estates realised by the Public Trustee or any estate administered and realised under The Lunatics Act, 1908, The Mental Defectives Act, 1911. The Prisons Act, 190'8, The Aged and Infirm Persons Protection Amendment Act, 1912, The Destitute Persons Act, 1910,, and any other estate in respect to which the Public Trustee’s charges on realisation are not specifically provided for. “The charges have also been reduced in cases where estates are not realised, but are transferred in kind to beneficiaries. The charge on the ■portion of the value from £5OOO to £lO,OOO in such cases has been reduced from 1% per cent, to 1 per cent. The charge on the value in excess of £lO.OOO has been reduced from %d per cent, to % per cent. Bn each of the following cases, namely: (a) Where amounts realised by a former executor, trustee, or administrates become vested in the Public Trustee on the original trusts in the form of investments or cash ; (b) in the case of a deed of trust or of a settlement ante-nuptial or otherwise where the trust property consists of cash ; (c) where sums are received by the Public Trustee under section 17 of the Public Trust Office Amendment Act, 1913, being the legacy or share due to any infant paid over to the Public Trustee by any executor ; (d) where an estate is administered by the Public Trustee in two capacities—e.g., as Statutory Commitlt.ee of a mental patient’s estate and later as execute - , under the will of the deceased patient, or where an estate consists of a share in another estate administer - ed by the Public Trustee ; the charge on amounts in excess of £50,000 has been reduced from 1 per cent, to % per cent. "Income Charges The commission charged on rent or on interest on mortgages has been reduced from 5 per cent to 2% per cent, on amounts in excess of £5OO per annum. -The concessions apply not only to estates accepted for administration after April .1, 1923, but also to those which ar? under administration by the Public Trustee on that date. The volume of business transacted by the Public Trustee has already assumed large proportions, the total value of assets and funds under administration on March 31, 1923, being approximately £29,0001,000. The wills held on behalf of living testators number more than 36.000.”