Gatt v Vella [2024] NSWSC 1009

Gatt v Vella [2024] NSWSC 1009

The Court declined to order the formal taking and passing of accounts under Probate and Administration Act 1898 s 85 because the application was made after distribution, the burdensome work and cost of creating s 85 accounts was not warranted, no substantial indication of maladministration was shown, the available figures did not reveal an obvious financial irregularity, and a simpler remedy was available. The plaintiffs were entitled, at their own expense and subject to payment or security for the defendant's reasonable costs, to copies for inspection of the estate accounts kept by the executrix in the ordinary course of administration, with the defendant entitled to protect privileged...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
13 August 2024
Procedural Posture
Succession Administration of Estates; Application for Executrix to File and Pass Accounts / Consequential Orders; on the Papers
Outcome
Application dismissed for the passing and filing of accounts under Probate and Administration Act 1898 s 85; alternative orders made for access to estate accounts at the plaintiffs' expense and costs, with orders stayed until 20 August 2024 to permit any application to relist for different orders.
Legal Topics
['administration of Estates' "executor's Duty to Keep and Provide Accounts" 'passing and Filing Accounts' "beneficiaries' Access to Estate Accounts" 'costs' 'inspection of Trust Documents']
['succession' 'equity' 'trusts' 'probate and Administration'] ['administration of Estates' "executor's Duty to Keep and Provide Accounts" 'passing and Filing Accounts' "beneficiaries' Access to Estate Accounts" 'costs' 'inspection of Trust Documents']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Succession Administration of Estates; Application for Executrix to File and Pass Accounts / Consequential Orders; on the Papers

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the Court should order the defendant executrix to verify, file and pass accounts under Probate and Administration Act 1898 s 85 after the estate had been fully administered and distributed.' 'Whether the plaintiffs should be granted alternative access to estate accounts and documents kept by the executrix in the ordinary course of administration.' 'Who should bear the costs of producing estate accounts and the costs of the proceedings.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Court declined to order the formal taking and passing of accounts under Probate and Administration Act 1898 s 85 because the application was made after distribution, the burdensome work and cost of creating s 85 accounts was not warranted, no substantial indication of maladministration was shown, the available figures did not reveal an obvious financial irregularity, and a simpler remedy was available. The plaintiffs were entitled, at their own expense and subject to payment or security for the defendant's reasonable costs, to copies for inspection of the estate accounts kept by the executrix in the ordinary course of administration, with the defendant entitled to protect privileged...

Court Disposition

Application dismissed for the passing and filing of accounts under Probate and Administration Act 1898 s 85; alternative orders made for access to estate accounts at the plaintiffs' expense and costs, with orders stayed until 20 August 2024 to permit any application to relist for different orders.

Orders

  • ['ORDER that the plaintiffs pay the costs of these proceedings on the indemnity basis incurred after 11 December 2023, but each party shall bear his and her own costs of all correspondence between the parties incurred prior to 11 December 2023.' "ORDER subject to order (3) that the defendant shall at the plaintiffs'...