Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) The Public Trustee
may, whether or not the number of trustees has been reduced below the original
number, be appointed to be custodian trustee of any trust —
(a) by
order of the Court made on the application of any beneficiary or of any person
on whose application the Court may order the appointment of a new trustee;
(b) by
the trust instrument; or
(c) by
any person having the power to appoint new trustees.
(2) Upon such
appointment —
(a) the
trust property shall be transferred to the custodian trustee as if he were
sole trustee, and for that purpose vesting orders may, where necessary, be
made by the Court;
(b) the
management of the trust property and the exercise of any power or discretion
exercisable by the trustees under the trust shall remain vested in the
trustees other than the custodian trustee (which trustees are hereinafter
referred to as the managing trustees);
(c) as
between the custodian trustee and the managing trustees, and subject and
without prejudice to the rights of any other persons, the custodian trustee
shall have the custody of all securities and documents of title relating to
the trust property, but the managing trustees shall have free access thereto
and be entitled to take copies thereof or extracts therefrom;
(d) the
custodian trustee shall concur in and perform all acts necessary to enable the
managing trustees to exercise their powers of management, or any other power
or discretion vested in them (including the power to pay money or securities
into Court), unless the matter in which he is requested to concur is a breach
of trust or involves a personal liability upon him in respect of calls or
otherwise, but, unless he so concurs, the custodian trustee shall not be
liable for any act or default on the part of the managing trustees or any of
them;
(e) all
sums payable to or out of the income or capital of the trust property shall be
paid to or by the custodian trustee: Provided that the custodian trustee may
allow the dividends and other income derived from the trust property to be
paid to the managing trustees, or to such person as they direct, or into such
bank to the credit of such person as they direct, and in such case shall be
exonerated from seeing to the application thereof and shall not be answerable
for any loss or misapplication thereof;
(f) the
power of appointing new trustees, when exercisable by the trustees, shall be
exercisable by the managing trustees alone, but the custodian trustee shall
have the same power of applying to the Court for the appointment of a new
trustee as any other trustee;
(g) the
custodian trustee, if he acts in good faith, shall not be liable for accepting
as correct and acting upon the faith of any written statement by the managing
trustees as to any birth, death, marriage or other matter of pedigree or
relationship or other matter of fact upon which the title to the trust
property or any part thereof may depend, nor for acting upon any legal advice
obtained by the managing trustees independently of the custodian trustee;
(h) the
Court, on the application of either the custodian trustee or of any of the
managing trustees, or of any beneficiary, to terminate the custodian
trusteeship, and on proof to its satisfaction that it is the general wish of
the beneficiaries or that on other grounds it is expedient that the custodian
trusteeship should be terminated, may make an order for that purpose, and the
Court may thereupon make such vesting orders and give such directions as under
the circumstances seem to the Court to be necessary or expedient;
(i)
in cases of difference between the custodian trustee and
the managing trustees, either the custodian trustee or the managing trustees
may submit the matter in dispute in a summary manner to a Judge of the Court
in chambers, whose decision thereon shall be final and shall bind both the
custodian trustee and the managing trustees.