Public Trustee Act 1979

Where the Public Trustee is executor, administrator or trustee, or is guardian or is otherwise authorized to act in the administration of an estate, unless the contrary intention is expressed in the governing instrument, the Public Trustee may in his or her discretion exercise the following powers:

where the power is to raise money by mortgage, to raise money by borrowing without giving security;

to pay or discharge all debts, liabilities, obligations, costs and expenses;

to insure both real and personal property against any contingency;

to carry out or vary contracts entered into before the appointment of the Public Trustee;

to set off against the claim of any person with respect to any estate money owing by the claimant whether to the same estate or to another estate under the administration of the Public Trustee;

to grant a power of attorney to a person either in or out of the

Northern Territory to do any act or thing which the Public Trustee could do;

to bring or defend any action, suit or other proceeding, and suffer judgment to go by default, or to consent to any judgment, decree or order in an action, suit or proceeding upon such terms and conditions as the Public Trustee thinks fit;

to take proceedings to cause any person to be adjudicated a bankrupt, or any company to be placed in liquidation, and to vote and act either personally or by proxy at meetings of creditors or shareholders;

to take criminal proceedings touching or concerning the property of the Public Trustee or property which is within the care, control or custody of the Public Trustee, and for the purposes of the proceedings a certificate given under the seal of the Public Trustee shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence to establish that the property is the property of the Public Trustee or is within the care, control or custody of the Public Trustee; and

at the expense of an estate, to employ such persons as the Public

Trustee thinks fit for the purposes of advising and assisting the

Public Trustee in the administration or management of the estate or any part of the estate and to remunerate such persons in such manner as the Public Trustee thinks fit.