Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 5 March 2016.
John decides to ask the Public Trustee (now known as the NSW Trustee and Guardian) to make him a new will. The service is “free”.
When John dies unexpectedly in his 50’s, having no children and no spouse, he leaves his estate to his extended family. The beneficiaries include his siblings, nieces and nephews and he leaves the bulk of his estate to his widowed mother.
Despite the fact that his family receives the whole of his estate, because the Public Trustee prepared his relatively simple “free” will, the Public Trustee is appointed as his executor and now has the authority to administer his estate.
The Public Trustee knows little of John’s affairs and it is his mother, who retains her own solicitor, who supplies all of the information.
It takes 18 months for the Public Trustee to list John’s real estate for sale. It is his mother who pays the insurance and rates during this time.
John’s superannuation funds pay his substantial entitlements to the Public Trustee. Despite his mother being entitled to all of these funds under the terms of his will, the Public Trustee refuses to distribute anything to her until the whole of the estate is ready for distribution.
The Public Trustee is very slow in responding to any communications from John’s mother and the responses that are received do not adequately address her concerns.
Two years pass and the assets of John’s estate are yet to be realised and distributed.
The costs charged by the Public Trustee are considerably more than the costs that John’s estate would have incurred if he had retained a private solicitor to prepare his will and administer his estate.
If John had appointed a family member as his executor, they would have been able to appoint a solicitor of their choosing to assist them with the administration of his estate. A local solicitor could have communicated more effectively and any delays minimised.
