Lord howe island board
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- L ORD H OWE I SLAND B OARD Business Paper ITEM
- CURRENT POSITION
- RECOMMENDATION
- Prepared
LORD HOWE ISLAND BOARD Business Paper ITEM Administration of the Estate of the Late Patricia Dignam – Perpetual Lease 1954/25. BACKGROUND An application has been received from Robert and Lindy Jeremy, as executors of the Estate of the Late Patricia Dignam, requesting that the Board recommend to the Minister, pursuant to section 23(10)(a) of the Lord Howe Island Act 1953 (the LHI Act), that they are granted approval to hold Perpetual Lease 1954/25 of portion 31 Lord Howe Island (“Thornleigh”) until 30 June 2016 to enable them to complete the administration of the Estate of the Patricia Dignam. Mr and Mrs Jeremy are the executors and beneficiaries of the Estate of the Patricia Dignam. Probate for the Estate was granted on 20 February 2013. Ms Dignam was a resident of Lord Howe Island and the holder of a Perpetual Lease 1954/25 over a property known as “Thornleigh”. The lease is an asset of the Estate. All land on Lord Howe Island vests in the Crown and may only be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the LHI Act. The Minister may grant perpetual leases of vacant Crown Land for the purposes of residence (section 21 LHI Act). Generally to be eligible to be the holder of a perpetual lease it is necessary to fulfil the requirements of an “Islander” as defined by the Act or be a lineal descendant of the deceased. Section 23 of the LHI Act governs the transfer of perpetual leases, with subsections (10) to (13) dealing with the transfer of leases the subject of a will or intestacy. Section 23(10)(a) provides that “If a lease under this Act devolves under a will or intestacy upon any person, such person may hold the lease for such period after the death of the testator or intestate as the Minister on the recommendation of the Board may permit.” By virtue of section 45 of the Probate and Administration Act 1898 upon the grant of probate of a will all real and personal estate of the deceased devolves to the executor of the estate by operation of law. As probate of Ms Dignam’s estate has now been granted perpetual lease 1954/25 has by operation of law devolved to Mr and Mrs Jeremy as the executors of the estate. The effect of section 23(10)(a) of the LHI Act is to limit the period of time that the executor of an estate to whom a perpetual lease had devolved may hold the lease to “such a period as the Minister on the recommendation of the Board may permit.” Section 23(10)(b) of the LHI Act then goes on to provide that during the time that the Minister permits the executor to hold the lease, the executor may either:
It should be noted that if during the period the Minister permits the executor to hold the lease, the executor does not either obtain a certificate from the Minister that they are permitted to hold the lease or transfer the lease, the lease shall be liable to forfeiture (LHI Act section 23(10)(d)). CURRENT POSITION Mr and Mrs Jeremy as executors of the Estate of Patricia Dignam have now written to the Board requesting that a recommendation is made to the Minister that they be permitted to hold Perpetual Lease 1954/25 until 30 June 2016 to allow them to deal with the administration of the estate. A copy of their letter is attached Tab A. The LHI Act does not stipulate the period of time the Minister may approve that executors of an estate may hold a perpetual lease. The Board’s “Transfer of Perpetual Lease Policy” (copy attached Tab B) recommends that “a maximum of 2 years from the date of probate as a reasonable period of time to enable an executor to either apply to the Board for a certificate from the Minister that the beneficiary is entitled to hold the lease or to sell and transfer the lease” (page 4). Probate of the Estate of Patricia Dignam was granted approximately 18 months ago, on 20 February 2013. Since that time there has been considerable correspondence between the Board and Mr and Mrs Jeremy regarding the process and procedure that must be followed when dealing with perpetual leases the subject of a will, culminating in the most recent letter the subject of the application before the Board. In addition to requesting that they be permitted to hold the lease until 30 June 2016 for the purposes of administering the Estate, Mr and Mrs Jeremy have indicated that they will be applying pursuant to section 23(10)(b) of the LHI Act for a certificate from the Minister that they are entitled to hold the lease permanently. To be eligible to hold the lease Mr and Mrs Jeremy must demonstrate that:
As Mr and Mrs Jeremy are not Islanders they have advised that they intend applying to the Board to recommend to the Minister that they are declared Islanders by order published in the Gazette (LHI Act section 3(1)(d)) on the basis of special circumstances. Mr and Mrs Jeremy have based their request to hold the lease as executors for a period a little in excess of three years on bases articulated in their letter including the potential that the State election scheduled for March 2015 may delay processes and concern regarding the exact process that must be followed and uncertainty regarding the time it may take the Board and the Minister to deal with their application to be permitted to hold the lease permanently. Given the circumstances surrounding this matter and that Mr and Mrs Jeremy are only requesting permission to hold the lease for a little over three years from the grant of probate it is recommended that the Board grant their request and approve the recommendation below. RECOMMENDATION That the Board recommend to the Minister for the Environment, the Hon Rob Stokes MP, that Mr and Mrs Jeremy as the executors of the Estate of the Late Patricia Dignam are granted approval to hold Perpetual Lease 1954/25 of portion 31 Lord Howe Island (“Thornleigh”) until 30 June 2016 to enable them to complete the administration of the estate. Prepared __________________ Tempe Lees Coordinator Lord Howe Island Board Endorsed __________________ Penny Holloway Chief Executive Officer Page of Yüklə 24,56 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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