Public Trustee Act

This Act may be cited as the Public Trustee Act.

Defines a person as someone who is no longer in communication or contact with those persons who the missing person would likely or ordinarily be in communication or contact with.

Lists 'a manager, administrator, executor or trustee'.

Section 3 is repealed by ActNo. 6 of 2018, s. 4.

If a provision of this Act conflicts with the Law of Succession Act (Cap. 160), the provisions of this Act prevail unless the Law of Succession Act expressly provides otherwise.

The Attorney-General may appoint a Public Trustee and may appoint Deputy and Assistant Public Trustees; any Deputy or Assistant appointed must be able to carry out the Public Trustee's duties and powers (subject to the Public Trustee's orders) and have the same privileges and liabilities as the Public Trustee.

Qualification: at least fifteen years' experience as a legal practitioner or being a distinguished academic in the legal field.

The Office of the Public Trustee is established as a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

A court may only grant orders or consent to disposal of a missing person's property where the total value does not exceed 250,000 shillings or ten percent of the estate, whichever is lower; members of the Kenya Defence Forces are exempt from this section.

The court may appoint the Public Trustee as guardian for adults incapable of making decisions; the Public Trustee must charge fees under this section in accordance with Rules made under the Act.

Establishes the Public Trustee Investment Board, lists its membership, requires at least four meetings per financial year, requires quarterly reports to the Attorney-General, sets appointment, term and re‑appointment rules for certain members, allows delegation of investment powers to the Public Trustee, and permits the Board to make by-laws.

The Investment Board reviews and oversees matters related to investing estate and trust funds.

The Public Trustee may receive and administer various compensation payments arising from accidents.

When agents in charge of an estate of a person not residing in Kenya die and leave the property without any responsible person, the Public Trustee must, when the fact comes to his notice, apply to the court for an order to take charge of the property; the court must make such order as it thinks fit.

The court may order proceedings to be started when it appears undesirable that the matter be decided (by petition).

The Public Trustee may convert estate movable property into money, may convert immovable property with court consent (but court consent is not needed if all interested parties consent in writing or value ≤ five hundred thousand shillings and conversion is advantageous), must advertise for creditors (giving 30 days to prove debts), must pay proved debts or dividends, transfers untraceable residue to unclaimed property, may transfer residue to foreign grant-holders or consular officers, and claims against funds transferred to the Consolidated Fund will be paid if established to the Public Trustee’s satisfaction; the Attorney-General may distribute the estate.

Public Trustee’s fees and expenses (including court and realization expenses incurred in collecting estate assets) are to be paid after funeral and death‑bed charges but before all other expenses and debts of the deceased.

Persons beneficially interested in immovable property vested in the Public Trustee may petition the court for partition; the court may, if satisfied partition is beneficial to all interested persons, appoint one or more arbitrators to effect the partition.

If requested and satisfied about reciprocity and creditor protection, the Public Trustee may apply to court to collect estate assets in Kenya and hand them to the Administrator‑General or Public Trustee of Uganda, Tanzania or Malawi; after an order the Public Trustee has the same rights and duties as if administration had been committed to him and is discharged from liabilities upon handing over the assets or proceeds.

Where the Public Trustee administers an estate and receives assets situated outside Kenya, those assets are to be treated the same as assets within Kenya at time of death; fees chargeable by the Public Trustee on assets or moneys received from outside Kenya only for distribution among heirs or beneficiaries are restricted to three per centum of the gross value of those assets or the net amount of money received.

The Public Trustee must make further inquiries into a deceased person's estate when informed or when a report under section 46 has been made; the Public Trustee may apply to court to seal foreign probate or letters of administration when requested in writing by an executor or administrator.

If a person whose consent is required is declared missing by a court, the Public Trustee may be appointed without that person's consent.

The court may grant letters of administration to the Public Trustee in certain cases, even if others would ordinarily be entitled, provided the court thinks fit for reasons recorded and has heard the Public Trustee.

The Public Trustee may take possession and administer estates below three million without applying for probate and shall draw a Certificate of Summary Administration when doing so; for very small estates (<= 100,000 shillings) the Public Trustee may grant a certificate to an applicant after 14 days and the proposed grantee must submit a statutory declaration verifying the estate's value.

After the Public Trustee has been granted letters of administration, an eligible person may apply to the court to revoke that grant and obtain probate or letters of administration, but no application may be made until seven days after written notice to the Public Trustee; the court may, after hearing the Public Trustee, revoke the grant and make a new grant subject to conditions, with additional timing limits for revoking letters granted to the Public Trustee and consequences for vesting of unadministered estate.

Lists functions of the Public Trustee (acting as personal representative, trustee, custodian trustee, custodian of missing or enemy property, administrator under Estate Duty Act, appointee as Public Guardian/Conservator or trustee by court, Registrar of wills, and to run awareness programmes); permits the Public Trustee to decline trusts; and forbids accepting trusts under creditor schemes or trusts involving business management except as rules permit.

A person intending to create a trust may appoint the Public Trustee as sole or joint trustee with the Public Trustee's consent; that consent must be recited in the instrument and the Public Trustee must duly execute the instrument.

If a trust property has no willing trustee in Kenya and is not of a kind the Public Trustee is prohibited from accepting, the court may, on application and with the Public Trustee's consent, order appointment of the Public Trustee as trustee of that property.

Specifies the role, powers and limits of a custodian trustee, and distinguishes managing trustees who retain management powers and access to trust documents.

Certain persons (donors, executors/administrators, or trustees) may transfer a gift, legacy or share by written instrument to the Public Trustee for the benefit of a minor or a person of unsound mind, subject to the Public Trustee's consent which must be recited and the instrument duly executed by the Public Trustee.

The Public Trustee must not be required by any court to give a bond or security when appointed in any capacity under this Act.

The court may make orders relating to trust property vested in the Public Trustee.

The Public Trustee may incur expenditure necessary for the proper care and management of property belonging to any trust or estate he administers.

Rules describing the Public Trustee’s legal standing: how the Trustee may be sued, protections from liability, entitlement to remuneration fixed by the Attorney‑General, permission to employ advocates, power to summon witnesses, and payment of sale proceeds to third‑party owners upon proof.

The Government must pay any sums needed to meet liabilities that the Public Trustee would personally have to pay, except where neither the Public Trustee nor his officers contributed to the liability and could not have prevented it; in that exception neither the Public Trustee nor the Government are liable.

This section defines the duties of the Public Trustee.

The Public Trustee is exempt from the provisions of the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act (Cap. 494) that require institutions to remit unclaimed assets to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority.

The Public Trustee may use alternative dispute resolution to settle disputes about administering estates and trusts.