Nova Scotia Public Trustee

The Public Trustee is committed to the proper administration of estates of deceased persons, incompetent persons, children, and missing persons. It is also committed to provide informed consents for health care, placement to a continuing care home or home care services using an approach that is client-centred, respectful of human rights and freedoms, and in the client’s best interests if prior wishes, values, and beliefs are not known.

The Public Trustee of Nova Scotia is independent of government. It is set up as a corporation to protect the financial and personal well-being of its clients, and offers a wide range of unique services. Its authority is set out in several provincial laws.

The Public Trustee may do any of the following:

  • manage the estates of adults who are considered to be mentally incompetent, including their money and property, or act as the trustee, guardian of the estate, or attorney for the estate of a person while they are alive
  • administer the estate of a person after they have died
  • administer trust funds for children who are under the age of 19, the age of majority in Nova Scotia
  • give consent to act as litigation guardian, or representative in court, for litigation for minors, adults who are considered to be mentally incompetent, deceased persons, missing persons, or any others who are unable to represent themselves in court – unascertained litigants – when a court orders that someone must act as a substitute
  • give consent for health care, placement to a nursing home or home care services for people who are considered to be mentally incompetent

The Public Trustee will not do any of the following:

  • help to mediate disputes in a family
  • investigate financial abuse
  • become the guardian of the person

The Public Trustee follows these principles in all its dealings with clients: all information remains confidential, and all clients are treated with the greatest respect. The Public Trustee follows the standards of practice, the common law, and the statutory principles when it makes decisions on behalf of its clients.

This web site gives you the following resources: