David Enzo Giovanetti as administrator of the estate of Mark Enrico Giovanetti v Giovanetti

In the matter of David Enzo Giovanetti as administrator of the estate of Mark Enrico Giovanetti against Giovanetti, the Supreme Court of Western Australia was tasked with deciding on the distribution of the estate of Mark Enrico Giovanetti, who died intestate in October 2021. The estate is valued at approximately $203,300, and Mark was survived by his three siblings: David Enzo Giovanetti, Anne Giovanetti, and Paul Victor Giovanetti. David, as the administrator of Mark's estate, has been unable to locate or contact Paul to distribute his share of the estate. The court was required to decide whether to grant the application for directions to distribute the whole estate to the remaining beneficiaries, as per s 66 of the Trustees Act 1962 (WA).

The court's reasoning was based on the evidence provided by David, who had conducted extensive searches to locate Paul, including publishing death notices, engaging a private investigator, and attempting to contact Paul through various addresses and social media platforms. The court found that no reasonable further enquiries could be made to improve the state of the evidence and that making further enquiries would be an unreasonable imposition on the estate due to its relatively small size. The court was satisfied that the appropriate parties had been joined and that the applicable law was s 66 of the Trustees Act. The court decided to grant the application and declare that the plaintiff may distribute the portion of the estate of Mark Enrico Giovanetti due to Paul Victor Giovanetti to the first and third defendants (Anne and David, in equal portions) as if Paul Victor Giovanetti predeceased Mark Enrico Giovanetti. The plaintiff's costs of and associated with this application were to be paid out of Paul's share of the estate.

In conclusion, the Supreme Court of Western Australia granted the application for directions to distribute the whole estate to the remaining beneficiaries, Anne and David Giovanetti, as per s 66 of the Trustees Act 1962 (WA). The court found that no reasonable further enquiries could be made to locate Paul, and it was an unreasonable imposition on the estate to conduct any further searches. The final orders declared that the plaintiff may distribute the portion of the estate of Mark Enrico Giovanetti due to Paul Victor Giovanetti to Anne and David Giovanetti in equal portions and that the plaintiff's costs be paid out of Paul's share of the estate.