Administration of estates

(1) Any person who, in the opinion of the Public Trustee, would be entitled to apply to the court for the appointment of an administrator of the estate of a deceased person, may apply to the Public Trustee to administer the estate, and the Public 8 Trustee shall administer the estate, unless he sees good reason for refusing to do so. (2) On the Public Trustee undertaking by declaration in writing, signed by him and deposited in the Supreme Court Registry, to administer the estate, he shall have the same power as if he had been appointed by a last will of the deceased person to be executor. (3) For the purposes of the administration, the Public Trustee may exercise those administrative powers and authorities of the Supreme Court which may be conferred upon him by the rules, subject to the conditions imposed by the (4) Rules shall be made under this Act for enabling the Public Trustee to take the opinion of the court on any question arising in the course of any administration without judicial proceedings, and otherwise for making the procedure under this section simple and inexpensive. (5) Where an application is made to the court for a grant of probate or letters of administration in the estate of any deceased person, or proceedings have been instituted in the court for the administration of the estate, and by reason of the small value of the estate, it appears to the court that the estate can be more economically administered by the Public Trustee than by any other person, or that for any other reason it is expedient that the estate should be administered by him instead of by any other person, the court may order that the estate shall be administered by him, and thereupon, subject to any directions by the court, this section shall apply as if the administration of the estate had been undertaken by him in pursuance of this section.