Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) Where a trustee
wishes to reject a claim that has been made, or that he has reason to believe
may be made —
(a) to
or against the estate or property that he is administering; or
(b)
against the trustee personally, by reason of his being under any liability in
respect of which he is entitled to reimburse himself out of the estate or
property that he is administering,
the trustee may serve
upon the claimant or the person who may become a claimant a notice calling
upon him, within a period of 3 months from the date of service of the notice,
to take legal proceedings to enforce the claim and also to prosecute the
proceedings with all due diligence.
(2) At the expiration
of the period stipulated in a notice served under subsection (1), the trustee
may apply to the Court for an order under subsection (3), and shall serve a
copy of the application on the person concerned.
(3) Where, on the
hearing of an application made under subsection (2), the person concerned does
not satisfy the Court that he has commenced proceedings and is prosecuting
them with all due diligence, the Court may make an order —
(a)
extending the period, or barring the claim, or enabling the trust property to
be dealt with without regard to the claim; and
(b)
imposing such conditions and giving such directions, including a direction as
to the payment of the costs of or incidental to the application, as the Court
thinks fit.
(4) Where a trustee
has served any notices under this section in respect of claims on 2 or more
persons, and the period specified in each of those notices has expired, he
may, if he thinks fit, apply for an order in respect of the claims of those
persons by a single application, and the Court may, on that application, make
an order accordingly.
(5) This section
applies to every claim therein mentioned, whether the claim is or may be made
as creditor or next-of-kin or beneficiary under the trust or otherwise; but it
does not apply to any claim under the Family Provision Act 1972 , and no
order made under this section shall affect any application for revocation of
any grant of Probate or of Letters of Administration, whether that application
is made before or after the order.
(6) On an application
by a trustee under this section, the persons beneficially entitled to the
estate or property need not be made parties to the proceedings, and an order
made by the Court on the application shall not affect their right to contest
the claim of the trustee to be entitled to indemnify himself out of the estate
or property that he is administering where they were not parties to the
proceedings in which the order was made.
[Section 64 amended: No. 57 of 1972 s. 3; No. 48
of 2011 s. 16(3).]