HALL ESTATE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24106, 27 October 1941, Page 9

HALL ESTATE

LENGTHY APPEAL CASE SUBMISSIONS FOR BANK DECLINE OF GISBORNE FORTUNE [BY TEI/EORAPH —PRE,S3 ASSOCIATION'] ■WELLINGTON, Satnrday The hearing of the appeal of Hall and others against the Guardian Trust and others entered into its sixth week yesterday. Mr. I). R. Hoggard, for the Bank of New Zealand, commenced his submissions on Tuesday, and stated that he wished to complain regarding the number of important documents which the appellants had omitted from the printed case on appeal. Furthermore, Mr. Lysnar had assured ths Court on a previous occasion that the appeal would last only a short time, and he had assured counsel that a groat number of allegations made in the Supreme Court would not be proceeded with on appeal. Those assurances had not been carried out. Dealing with the decline of the late Mr. Hall s fortune and the difficulty of inducing him to liquidate his assets during his lifetime, Mr. Hoggard said that Gisborne was not a progressive township and was overloaded with _ a rating burden. Its population had increased by onlv 1000 in 25 years, and since 1921 the increase had been trifling. It was clear from the lack of development in the district that neither Mr. Hall's attorneys, the New Zealand Insurance Company in the early years and the Guardian Trust later, had very much hope of obtaining sale prices that were likely to agree with Mr. Hall's ideas. 1927 Declaration ol Trust As to the allegations made by Mr. F. T. Hall regarding properties vested in him at the date of the testator's death, Mr. Hoggard submitted that the appellants were not entitled to back, as they had done, to a declaration of trust which was made in 1927, as that question had been disposed of by a previous judgment of the Court of Appeal. The! appellants were confined to events in 1929 and 1930. In 1929 an application had been made to the Bank of New Zealand by the late Mr. Hall's attorney to raise a further advance to meet pressing liabilities, but the bank had turned the application down. In 1930 the attorney prevailed upon the bank to reconsider its decision, but one condition imposed by the bank was the assignment by Mr. Hall of his estate. This stipulation was later waived upon the condition that the children gave a declaration of trust in favour of their father over properties in their names, hut which the father had held out to be his. This was done. Mr. Hoggard denied that there was ever an agreement between the banks to exercise any pressure upon Mr. Hall relative to the properties in the name of the children, and stated that the further advances made to Mr. Hall were used to exonerate his properties from existing charges of amounts greater than the value of the properties. Tn making his declaration of trust Mr. F. T. Hall was independently advised. Bank's Unsecured Claims Regarding the question of the alleged compromise of the bank's unsecured claims, Mr. Hoggard said that the onus was on the appellants to show that all the approved creditors, including the banks, had released 18s 5d in the pound on their approved debts. The appellants sought to establish this by saying that the banks were bound by the compromise effected with the other unsecured creditors in 1936, but there could be no construction of the true facts relating to that transaction other than that contended for by the banks, namely, that the creditors other than the banks 'were to receive an immediate and certain payment, the banks taking the risk of receiving more or less in the future. In any event, the administrator had no power to bind the bank to anv other arrangement. Regarding the properties mortgaged to the banks, Mr. Hoggard contended that these properties had been overvalued by the banks for proof of debt purposes, and the banks must make a further substantial loss when they came to convert the properties into money. Mr. Hoggard concluded his address yesterday morning, and is now being followed by Mr. O'Learv.