Lusiana Divokitira 
[Photo: FILE]
Delays in payments and a lack of cooperation from beneficiaries can extend estate administration through the Fiji Public Trustee Corporation to as long as five years.
Chief Executive Ajay Singh says estate administration normally takes between one and two years, depending on the complexity of the estate and the level of beneficiary cooperation.
The Corporation is working to improve service delivery through public awareness programs and digital initiatives to make the process more accessible.
For families waiting to settle a loved one’s estate, the process can become lengthy, particularly when beneficiaries delay required payments or fail to submit necessary documentation.
“One key thing that is stopping us from growth is putting charge on the properties. So we have asked for putting charge on properties so that we can convince, encourage beneficiaries to pay on time.”
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Affairs also sought clarification on the Corporation’s processing turnarounds.
Singh explained that while initial customer inquiries are processed within days, full estate administration timelines are heavily impacted by customer responsiveness.
“Turnaround time for certain matters would be three to five days. Customer response turnaround time is three to five days. So it is affected by customer’s response as well, cooperation.”
The Fiji Public Trustee Corporation is conducting public awareness campaigns across the Central, Western, and Northern divisions to educate communities on the importance of drafting wills and properly transferring inherited property.
