The value of the subject person’s property/assets is the key determining factor in whether you appoint a property manager or a property administrator under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act (PPPR Act). Key issues to be aware of are:
A property administrator can be appointed if the subject person's property is worth less than $25,000 and their income or benefit is less than $40,000 per year. A property manager is appointed if the property or income is higher than these thresholds.
Property managers have reporting responsibilities to the court.
Only one person can be appointed as a property administrator at a time.
The general rule stated by the Ministry of Justice and in the Act's structure is that you typically have either a Property Administrator or a Property Manager for a person's property affairs. The Ministry of Justice website explicitly states: ‘The court can't make an Order to Administer Property if a property manager has already been appointed. Only one person can administer property.’
So while the intention of the PPPR Act is generally to have one type of property management order (either Administrator or Manager) to cover all of a person's property affairs based on the thresholds, the Family Court retains the power to appoint a Property Manager over a specific part of a person's property (Section 31(1) of the PPPR Act), even if a Property Administrator is already appointed for other, usually lower-value, aspects of their property. This allows the court flexibility to address unique or challenging financial circumstances of the incapacitated person.
