Legal Services

The legal section's function is to provide legal advice and services to the clients, estates and trusts administered by The Public Trustee. It does this by:

• providing legal services and opinions to The Public Trustee, and on behalf of clients, estates and trusts in all areas of the law
• providing information and advice to private lawyers about The Public Trustee's role and areas of law in which The Public Trustee is most involved
• providing substituted consent for medical or psychiatric treatment

The Public Trustee also carries out legal duties that are required by statute which do not necessarily involve its clients, estates or trusts. These include:

• reviewing all private committeeship applications submitted to the court and in some cases becoming involved in the proceedings
• representing The Public Trustee as litigation guardian for persons of unsound mind
• representing The Public Trustee when it is served under The Dependants Relief Act when a minor or incompetent person has an interest in an application under that act
• reviewing all infant (children's) settlements brought before the court for approval and other applications where a child has an interest in property or an estate
• providing legal services to children where The Public Trustee is named as litigation guardian. (This occurs primarily in domestic proceedings where a child is a party or when a child is a defendant in civil proceedings. Legal services may also be provided to child plaintiffs if there is no family member willing or able to act as litigation guardian)
• upon the request of the court, becoming involved in applications by Private Committees to pass accounts