A property manager is appointed to look after the financial affairs of someone who is no longer able to manage their own finances or property. They are usually a family member, friend or trustee company.
There are laws that govern how a property manager must act. Property managers are accountable to the Family Court and must prepare statements of assets and liabilities to show they’re meeting their property manager obligations.
Public Trust's role
Public Trust is court-appointed to examine the financial statements prepared by property managers. This means we perform property manager examinations on behalf of the courts.
Financial statement examinations are required under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 and are in place to safeguard vulnerable people by ensuring their assets and property are used in their best interest.
The Act requires that the costs for these examinations are covered by the assets of the protected person and the fees are set at an hourly rate of $247.27 (including GST, as of 3 October 2024).
The regulated fees we charge for this work are time-based, so we’re focused on completing our review of the financial statements as quickly as we can.
You can help reduce the examination time by submitting complete and accurate information.
You’ve been appointed as a property manager – below you'll find what you need to do to meet your financial statement obligations.
There are three types of financial statements that need to be filed with the court at different stages:
Once we receive your statement from the court, one of our Private Manager team will review it and start the examination. We’ll be in contact if we need any more information. This may include an online link for uploading bank statements.
When the examination is completed, you will receive a copy of the report and an invoice from us for the cost of the review, which is covered by the assets of the protected person.
More information on the review process is available in our brochure that you can download here.
In October 2024 new charge-out rates for performing the property manager examinations, as well as updated asset and income thresholds for customers, came into effect under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988. The Ministry of Justice has published guidance about these changes on its website.
Filing property statements
Being a property manager