Singapore legislation
Section 7
Section 7
Appointment of Public Trustee to be trustee, executor, etc.
(1)
Subject to subsection (4), a testator, a settlor or a court may appoint the Public Trustee by that name, or by any sufficient description, as if the Public Trustee were a private trustee —
to be trustee of any will, settlement or other instrument creating a trust; or
to perform any trust or duty belonging to a class which the Public Trustee is authorised by rules made under this Act to accept.
(2)
This section applies regardless of when the will, settlement or other instrument creating the trust or duty was made or came into operation.
(3)
The Public Trustee may be appointed under subsection (1) —
as an original trustee; or
as a new trustee in place of or in addition to one or more trustees.
(4)
No appointment under subsection (1) has effect unless the Public Trustee has given his or her written consent to the appointment.
(5)
Where a court wishes to appoint the Public Trustee under subsection (1), the court must direct that an application for the written consent of the Public Trustee required under subsection (4) be made by such person seeking the appointment of a trustee by the court as the court considers fit.
(6)
Where no written consent has been given by the Public Trustee before his or her appointment, the Public Trustee may, at any time after he or she knows of the fact of his or her appointment, act as if the Public Trustee had given his or her written consent.
(7)
Where the Public Trustee has been appointed a trustee of any trust, a co‑trustee may retire from the trust under and in accordance with the provisions of the Trustees Act 1967 but without such consent as is required by that Act, even if the Public Trustee becomes the sole trustee upon the retirement.
(8)
The Public Trustee is not to be so appointed either as a new or additional trustee where the will, settlement or other instrument creating the trust or duty contains a direction to the contrary, unless the court orders otherwise.
(9)
Notice of any proposed appointment of the Public Trustee, either as a new or additional trustee, must, where practicable, be given in the prescribed manner to all persons beneficially interested who are resident in Singapore and whose addresses are known to the persons proposing to make the appointment, or, if the beneficiaries are infants, to their guardians.
(10)
If any person who has been given notice under subsection (9) applies to the court within 21 days from the receipt of the notice, the court may, if having regard to the interests of all the beneficiaries it considers it expedient to do so, make an order prohibiting the appointment being made.
(11)
The failure to give the notice under subsection (9) does not invalidate the appointment.