Public trustee

Initially it was a part-time for position for one man, the government had not anticipated that much of the public would prefer to trust a bureaucrat with their estate – by the mid 20th century the New Zealand Public Trustee gained nearly one-third of the estate market in the country, was undertaking many statutory duties beyond this and employed a staff of a thousand.

The office of public trustee was adopted by several other countries of the Commonwealth, including the United Kingdom (founded 1906), where it plays a far more limited role, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Singapore, most Canadian provinces and all Australian states and territories.

Some public trustees also provide a free or inexpensive service for drawing wills (receiving remuneration upon administering the estate).

The public trustees also manage the estates of infants (such as in cases where they receive a damages settlement), prisoners, and others under a disability (legal or otherwise), when required.

Although much reduced in size after a series of restructurings in the 1990s, and unsuccessful moves into conveyancing, unit trust-like investments and other non-core business, which led to large losses at the end of the decade, the office has now returned to profit.