27Power of trustee company to distribute estate where possible claimants have not claimed

27 Power of trustee company to distribute estate where possible claimants have not claimed

(1)  Subject to this section, when –

(a) a trustee company –

(i) has been granted probate of the will, or letters of administration of the estate, of a deceased person; and

(ii) has been informed of the existence at any time of a person (in this section referred to as "the said person") who, if he had survived the deceased person, would have been entitled to a legacy under the will, or to the whole or a share of the estate, of the deceased person; and

(b) neither the said person nor any other person claiming through him or as his issue or one of his issue has made a claim in respect of that legacy, estate, or share within 3 years after the grant of probate or letters of administration –

the trustee company, after advertising as required under this section, may, without being under any liability to the said person or to any other person claiming through him or as his issue or one of his issue, distribute the estate as if the said person had predeceased the deceased person without issue.

(2)  The trustee company shall, before making a distribution pursuant to this section, make a report to a judge setting out the material facts relating to the matter and obtain a direction from the judge as to the form and number of the advertisements to be inserted and the places in which they are to be published and fixing a time after the insertion of the last of those advertisements at the expiration of which the distribution may be made.

(3)  Nothing in this section prejudices the right of a person to follow any assets into the hands of the person or persons who have received them.