Section 71 — Property (Relationships) Act 1976: Distribution of estate before choice made

71 Distribution of estate before choice made (1) The administrator or trustee of the estate of a deceased spouse or partner must not distribute any part of that estate before— (a) the expiry of 6 months after administration of that estate is granted in New Zealand; or (b) the surviving spouse or partner chooses option A or option B,— whichever happens first. (2) Despite subsection (1) , a distribution may be made in the following cases: (a) where section 47(2) of the Administration Act 1969 applies to the distribution: (b) where the surviving spouse or partner consents in writing to the distribution: (c) where the Court, on application made to it for the purpose, approves the distribution. Sections 55 to 57 were repealed, and new Part 8 (comprising sections 55 to 95) and Part 9 (comprising sections 96 to 99) were inserted, as from 1 February 2002, by section 61 Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 5). See Part 9 of this Act as to the transitional and saving provisions. Section 71 was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(2) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by substituting the word “ partner ” for the words “ de facto partner ” wherever they appear.