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These multifarious duties render it imperative that the Public Trustee should be represented in the main centres of the Dominion and in the principal smaller ones. The administration work is thus conducted in well-organized branches throughout the country in close proximity to the beneficiaries and the assets. The work to be performed very often extends beyond New Zealand for in many cases there are estate assets in the British Isles and in other overseas countries requiring to be administered. During the year the administration of 4,205 estates and funds was completed and assets valued at £7,922,974 were accounted for to those entitled. This turnover of estates approximates that of last year, when 4,275 estates and funds were closed, but the value of assets accounted for was £8,939,843. The market for all classes of assets has continued to be good and is a main factor in the speedy administration and closing of estates. It largely accounts for the smaller number of estates remaining under administration at the close of the year —namely, 18,313 —as against 18,953 at the close of the previous year. Wills and Trusts. —This class of estate always represents the main part of the Office business. During the year 2,291 estates of this kind, of a value of £5,361,348, were accepted for administration. This represents an increase over the previous year of 60 in number and £594,420 in value. Intestate Estates. —In former years the number of intestate estates accepted for administration annually was much greater than has been the case in recent years. The number has remained between five hundred and six hundred per annum for some time past. This reduction in numbers is an indication of a greater public awareness of the need for making a will. The testator can then ensure that his estate will be distributed in accordance with his wishes, instead of in accordance with a rigid system of distribution fixed by statute, which does not necessarily ensure that those with the strongest moral claims will benefit most from the testator's estate. It is often a matter of very great difficulty to ascertain and trace the next-of-kin entitled under an intestacy. If the nearest relatives are a wife and children, no difficulty arises, but in other cases investigations extending over years are often necessary to determine the persons entitled to the estate. In many instances extensive and sometimes costly inquiries have to be made in Great Britain, and the fact that an experienced officer is attached to the office of the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London greatly facilitates the obtaining of the certificates of birth, death, and marriage and the other proofs usually required to establish the rights of those appearing to be the next-of-kin. Intestate estates of a value of £480,183 and 524 in number came under administration in the year, as against a value of £440,748 and number of 565 in the previous year. Estates of Persons Under Disability.—lt has long been recognized that means should be provided for the administration of the affairs of those who, by reason of their mental condition, are unable to act for themselves. In New Zealand the necessary provision is made by the Mental Defectives Act, 1911, and its amendments. Under the Act the Public Trustee is the administrator of the estates of all patients (other than Maoris) within the meaning of the Act, except where a private committee is appointed by the Court. In the latter event the Public Trustee is required to exercise certain supervision over the accounts and administration of the committee. In the past year the estates of 599 patients, valued at £818,700, were accepted, as against 678 estates of a value of £906,910 in the preceding year. The total number of patients' estates under administration as at the 31st March, 1950, was 3,489, with assets of a value of £4,333,128. Under the Aged and Infirm Persons Protection Act, 1912, provision is made for the care of the estates of persons who are unable to manage their own affairs by reason of age, sickness, mental infirmity, or other cause. The Act provides for the appointment by the Supreme Court of a manager (who may be the Public Trustee or a relative or some

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