Gerard A. Nester, Public Administrator

The Public Administrator acts on behalf of the citizens of St. Louis before the Probate Division of the St. Louis Circuit Court. The Public Administrator takes charge of the assets of City residents who die without family or a last will and testament. In this capacity, the Public Administrator begins a Probate proceeding for those assets, pays the claims of any creditor of the deceased, and distributes any remaining assets to surviving relatives, if any, or to the Unclaimed Property Division of the Treasurer's Office for the State of Missouri. After twenty-one years, the unclaimed property is transferred to Missouri's school fund for the education of Missouri's children.

The Probate Division sometimes appoints the Public Administrator to act as Guardian for the mentally ill or developmentally disabled adults whom the Probate Division has determined are unable to meet their essential needs for food, shelter and clothing. In this capacity, the Public Administrator is called upon to consent to the admission of these Wards to nursing homes and residential care facilities and to see that they receive proper medical, psychiatric and therapeutic care. Currently, the Public Administrator is updating its computer data bases and telephone service so that it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to serve as Guardian for these four hundred or more citizens of St. Louis.

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This Page Last Modified: Monday, 19-Nov-2007 16:42:44 CST