Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999

An account assessor appointed to carry out an account assessment is to decide the procedure to be followed on the assessment.

However, the procedure must be—

appropriate to the scope and nature of any dispute and any amount in dispute; and

consistent with the rules of natural justice; and

fair and efficient.

Without limiting subrule (1) or (2), the account assessor may decide to do all or any of the following—

hear the account assessment in private;

carry out the account assessment on the papers without an oral hearing;

not be bound by laws of evidence or procedure applying to a proceeding in the court;

extend or shorten the time for taking any step in the account assessment;

be informed of the facts in any way the account assessor considers appropriate;

require proof of expenditure in the form of receipts or other evidence satisfactory to the account assessor;

require an estate account to be amended or require a further estate account or amended estate account to be provided by the trustee of the estate;

not make a record of the evidence given.

Unless the court orders otherwise, the costs of an account assessment are to be borne by the estate.

However, the account assessor may make a recommendation in a certificate of account assessment as to how the costs of the account assessment are to be borne.