Probate Application NSW
Apply for a Grant of Probate in Sydney

Probate is a legal term that refers to the process by which the Supreme Court of NSW certifies that:

• A Will is valid and can be acted upon

• The executor(s) named in the Will have the authority to finalise the deceased person’s estate. This includes all property, assets and any debt.

In determining whether you need a Grant of Probate in NSW, you can:

• Contact the institutions holding the assets of the deceased and ask whether they require a Grant in order for you to deal with the property.
  • If there are minimal assets, you may only need to produce a certified copy of the Will and death certificate
• Contact Probate Consultants for a free consultation regarding the estate.

There is no requirement to apply for Probate in New South Wales in order to administer the estate of someone who has passed away. You only need to apply for Probate to deal with the deceased person’s assets if the institutions holding those assets require it.

Probate is a legal process where the Supreme Court of NSW certifies that:

• A Will is valid and can be acted upon
• The executor(s) named in the Will have the authority to finalise the deceased person’s estate. This includes all property, assets and any debt.

Once an application for Probate is filed with the Supreme Court of NSW, it is processed within 10 weeks. If the application is successful, the Grant of Probate is posted to you in the mail and is usually received in 2-4 days. If there are any questions, issues or concerns that need to be addressed in relation to your application, the Registrar will raise a requisition for further information to be provided. Once answers to the requisition have been filed with the Court, they will be reviewed within 3 months. Having to answer requisitions can cause significant delays to the application process and can often result in having to seek legal advice.

Probate of a Will is the process by which the validity of a Will is proved to the Supreme Court of NSW.

Probate of a Will is granted to the executor(s) who proved the Will. They are issued with a Grant of Probate which is evidence of their authority to deal with the property and assets in the deceased person’s estate. The estate must be administered in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as set out in the Will.

Once the executor(s) receive the Grant of Probate, they can begin administering the deceased person’s estate immediately.

This involves:

• Collecting all property and assets
• Paying any debts
• Distributing the assets according to the Will

Funds can be distributed to the beneficiaries named in the Will once the assets of the estate have been collected, and any debts have been paid.

The executor(s) may choose to publish a notice on the NSW Online Registry before distributing any funds. This is called a ‘Notice of Intended Distribution’ and gives creditors 30 days to make a claim on the estate where there are debts owed. This is not mandatory however, may provide protection from claims made by creditors in the future.

Applying Yourself
If you were to apply yourself, without engaging a solicitor or using Probate Consultants, you would pay the following:

• Advertisement fee – $49
• Filing Fee (based on gross value of the estate)

• $0: Less than $100,000
• $802: More than $100,000 but less than $250,000
• $1,088: More than $250,000 but less than $500,000
• $1,669: More than $500,000 but less than $1,000,000
• $2,224: More than $1,000,000 but less than $2,000,000
• $3,707: More than $2,000,000 but less than $5,000,000
• $6,179: More than $5,000,000

Solicitors
There is no standard cost that solicitors charge for preparing Probate applications. Fees vary from practitioner to practitioner and practice to practice.

When considering a price quote from a Solicitor, ensure the following has been included to avoid any surprises in the final bill:

• GST
• Costs & Disbursements
  • Advertisement Fee
  • Filing Fee
  • Other

Often lawyers will provide a quote for their professional fee only, excluding any GST or the administrative costs involved. This can add hundreds of dollars to the final bill.

Probate Consultants
We charge all Australians the same Fixed-Fee regardless of the value of the estate. You have complete certainty over the total out-of-pocket cost involved in obtaining Probate from the beginning – no surprises.

The total cost involved in applying for Probate in NSW includes:

• Our Fixed-Fee: $1,588 inc GST
• Advertisement Fee
• Supreme Court Filing Fee

There are three ways to apply for a Grant of Probate:

• Instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf
• Authorise a Trustee Company to act as the executor or administrator
• Prepare the Application yourself (without a Solicitor)

Many people don’t realise that you can apply for Probate yourself without seeing a Solicitor. The challenging part, however, is navigating the complicated forms, filling them out in accordance with the strict requirements of the Supreme Court of NSW and arranging all the necessary documents for lodgement.

That’s where Probate Consultants come in! We do all the tricky paperwork and processes for you, guaranteeing that your application will be successful or your money back. You get the same legal outcome as seeing a Solicitor, without any excessive legal fees.

Someone who passes away without a valid Will has died intestate. To deal with the property and assets they have left behind, someone who is entitled to benefit from the estate, usually the deceased’s closest next-of-kin, can apply for Letters of Administration.

Letters of Administration are issued by the Supreme Court of NSW to the person(s) legally entitled to deal with the property and assets of someone who has died intestate. This person is appointed Administrator of the estate.

Probate Filing Fees are paid to the Supreme Court of NSW in order to lodge an application for Probate. This is what it costs in order for the Court to process the application, and if successful, grant Probate of the Will.

The Filing Fee payable for an application is determined by the total value of assets held in New South Wales. The higher the value of the NSW assets in the estate, the higher the cost of the Filing Fee.

All real estate and personal property owned by the deceased must be included in an application for Probate where it was owned solely or as tenants in common.

Property and assets owned jointly with another person can be excluded from the application if ownership passed automatically to the surviving owner when the person passed.

There is, however, no requirement to apply for Probate in order to administer the estate of someone who has passed away. You only need to apply for Probate to deal with the deceased person’s assets if the institutions holding those assets require it.

Yes, you can apply for Probate yourself without a solicitor.

To see what’s involved in preparing your own application for Probate you can visit the NSW Supreme Court Website here.

The challenging part with drafting your own Probate Application is navigating the complicated forms, filling them out correctly and adhering to the Supreme Court of NSW’s strict requirements.

That’s where Probate Consultants come in! We do all the tricky paperwork and processes for you, guaranteeing that your application will be successful or your money back. You get the same legal outcome as seeing a Solicitor, without expensive legal fees.