A common question encountered by estate practitioners is what happens if an estate trustee dies before completing the administration of an estate. In today’s blog, instead of focusing on the devolution of executorship, I look at procedural steps that can be taken to confirm the authority of surviving estate trustees, where one of multiple appointed estate trustees dies, during the administration of the estate.
In such an instance, the surviving estate trustees may experience difficulty in completing the administration of the estate, if third-party institutions require the consent and approval of each jointly appointed estate trustee listed in the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee with a Will.
If this occurs, there is a fairly straightforward procedure for “confirming” the authority of the surviving estate trustees. This process is governed by Rule 74.14.2 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. This rule applies if:
- there has been a change of estate trustees as a result of: (a) a devolution of executorship on the death of an estate trustee with a will, (b) the death of an estate trustee, if one or more surviving estate trustees continue to be authorized to act, (c) a court order, or
- there has been no change of estate trustees.
The Rules set out that the confirmation of the status of a person as an estate trustee may be obtained by making a written request to the registrar of the court that issued the applicable certificate of appointment for a court status certificate providing confirmation.
In the example provided above, where the request for the status certificate results from the death of another estate trustee appointed by the same certificate of appointment, the request must be accompanied by an affidavit confirming the death of the estate trustee and the circumstances under which the surviving estate trustee(s) continues to be authorized to act, including proof of death of the deceased estate trustee.
Thanks for reading!