Manktelow v Public Trustee

The case of Manktelow v Public Trustee and Others was heard in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The plaintiff, Frederick Paul Manktelow, sought to enforce a direction in the will of his deceased partner, Leida Tarik, that she be buried. The deceased had no property in her corpse, but her executor, the Public Trustee, had a right to custody of the body until it was properly buried. The will contained a direction that the deceased be buried, but did not specify a location. The plaintiff argued that the burial should occur in Perth, Western Australia, while the deceased's children argued for a burial in South Australia. The court considered the legal principles that applied to the case, including the right of the executor to bury the deceased and the need to give effect to the deceased's wishes.

The court found that the plaintiff had standing to seek orders under the Administration Act and that the direction in the will should be interpreted as requiring the burial to occur in Perth, Western Australia, where the deceased had been domiciled for many years before her death. The court rejected the argument that the body should be buried in South Australia, as there was no compelling reason to do so. The court granted the relief sought by the plaintiff and ordered that the deceased be buried in Perth.