Time spent by receivers assisting police with criminal investigations arising from incidents at the receivership property is not ordinarily chargeable to the estate, as the court's task in assessing remuneration is to reward value to the estate, not to indemnify against cost. A small allowance may be made for time necessarily lost (e.g., being detained at the scene for interview). The civic duty to assist police is a personal obligation that surpasses professional duties. Courts may bypass the standard procedure for taking accounts to determine a discrete question of principle where the monetary value is low and the standard procedure would be disproportionately costly.
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