Guide to Probate 

When a person passes away leaving a Will, Probate may be required for their Estate to be administered and their assets distributed to the beneficiaries identified in the Will.

What is Probate?

Probate is the process of having a Will validated by the Supreme Court of NSW, who deem the Will to be legitimate, and the Executor is granted Probate to administer the Estate.

Your role as an Executor includes collecting the assets from the Estate and then distributing the assets to the beneficiaries in accordance with the Will.

When Probate is granted and the Will is validated, the Executor/s identified in the Will can begin collecting the assets of the Estate and distributing them to the beneficiaries in accordance with the Will.

When is Probate Required?

Probate is only required if the Will-maker had sole ownership over their assets, such as bank accounts or shareholdings in their sole name, or the total monetary value of their assets exceed a certain amount. This amount is dependent on the type of assets held by the Will-maker at the time of their passing and varies between different types of financial institutions. 

As an example, all banks have their own deceased estates protocols, and therefore have different requirements for releasing funds. As a rule of thumb, banks have their threshold at $15,000 - $50,000, where if the amounts in the Will-makers bank accounts exceed this threshold, then the bank will require a Grant of Probate before they can release the funds to the Executor. Similarly, share registries have their own deceased estate procedures, including a share value threshold, and if the total value of the Will-makers shares exceed this threshold, a Grant of Probate is required before they can sell or transfer the shares. 

If the Will-maker only held assets with other people, such as having joint bank accounts or real estate in joint names with their spouse, or the value of their Estate is not large, Probate may not be required to administer the Estate.

As Executor it is therefore important to compile a thorough list of the Will-makers’ assets.

Acting as the Executor of an Estate can appear to be an overwhelming process, particularly during your time of grief. MRM Lawyers understand this, and our experienced and compassionate Estate Solicitors are here to assist you during this difficult period.

If you are the nominated Executor in the Will of a person who has recently passed away and you need advice and assistance with obtaining a grant of Probate, please contact any of our Estates Solicitors and we will assist you in this process.

Article by Cooper Smith