A bank has frozen the accounts and asked for a grant of probate. We prepare the application, publish the notices and get the estate moving while you deal with everything else.
Probate is an order of the Supreme Court of NSW confirming that a will is valid and that the executor named in it has authority to deal with the deceased’s assets. The document the Court issues is called a grant of probate, one form of grant of representation.
Once it is issued, the executor becomes the estate’s legal personal representative. When clients ask what probate is actually for, the answer is practical: banks, share registries and NSW Land Registry Services will generally not release or transfer assets without one.
Grant of probate | Letters of administration | LoA with the will annexed | No grant required | |
When it applies | Valid will, and the named executor is able and willing to act | No will was left | Valid will, but the executor has died, declined or lacks capacity | Assets were jointly owned, or balances sit below each institution’s release threshold |
Who applies | The executor named in the will | Usually the closest next of kin | Usually the main beneficiary | Nobody. No application is filed |
What the Court issues | A grant of probate | A grant of letters of administration | Letters of administration with the will attached; the will still governs who inherits | Nothing. Assets pass by survivorship or are released directly |
Probate is usually required when the deceased owned real estate in their sole name, or held accounts, shares or an aged care bond above the release thresholds each institution sets. There is no fixed statutory figure; every bank draws its own line. Jointly owned homes and joint accounts pass to the survivor without a grant. Executors are expected to apply within six months of the death, and most probate NSW applications are now filed through the Court’s Online Registry after a notice has been published online for at least 14 days.
Tamara Al Hashimi, admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia, runs your matter and answers your questions herself.
We handle what happens after probate is granted in NSW as well: notices, requisitions, transfers, the final distribution.
You will always know what stage the application is at and what comes next, in language written for executors, not other lawyers.
Unsure whether you need a grant at all, or what probate fees NSW estates attract? A short call with a probate lawyer Sydney executors turn to will usually settle both.
A grant makes you the estate’s legal personal representative, and the Court holds you to that. The main obligations:
Secure and insure estate assets straight away. An uninsured house that burns down between death and grant is a loss you can be personally pursued for.
File a complete inventory of assets. The grant application is made on oath, and leaving assets out can mean going back to the Court to amend it, or worse.
Apply within six months of the death, or be ready to explain the delay in an affidavit.
Pay debts before beneficiaries, in the right order. Distribute first and a shortfall comes out of your own pocket.
Keep estate money separate and keep records. Beneficiaries can compel you to account for every dollar.
Deal with the tax. A date-of-death return and estate returns where needed; the ATO does not treat "I didn't know" as a defence.
Act for the beneficiaries, not yourself. No buying estate assets cheap, no preferring one beneficiary because they're easier to deal with.
Distribute only after the protection steps. Skip the notice and the waiting periods, and any later claim can reach you personally.
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“Highly recommend the services of Hillcrest lawyers! Tamara helped me construct and write my will. She’s very knowledgeable and honest with her clients. Her guidance and advice made writing a will very straightforward and easy. I would give beyond 5 stars if I could!Keep up the amazing work TamaraSuper strongly recommended 🙂
Thank you sooo much Tamara for all your hard work!”
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“I’ve had the pleasure of having Tamara as my Solicitor for the past 4 and a half years. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my protecting myself and my son. I went to Tamara scared and broken and she fought for us and saved me from a life of panic and fear and saved my son from a very dangerous person. I can’t thank her enough for the empathy, strength and loyalty she provided me. Not only did I receive the outcome I wanted, I also gained a lifelong friend.”
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The Succession Act 2006 sets out who inherits under the intestacy rules in NSW, and the same list broadly determines who can apply. A spouse comes first. Applying for letters of administration otherwise looks much like a probate application, with extra affidavit evidence proving the family tree, which is where most of the delay comes from.
Section 92 of the Probate and Administration Act 1898 protects an executor of an estate who publishes a notice of intended distribution, then waits 30 days from publication and six months from the death before paying anyone. Claims that surface later are met from what the beneficiaries received.
Securing the property, insuring it, paying the funeral from the deceased’s account: all fine before the grant. Selling real estate is not, and banks will not hand over meaningful balances. On how long probate takes in NSW, most straightforward grants issue within two to six weeks of filing, once the 14-day notice period has run.
Yes. Most challenges after a grant of probate are family provision claims, where someone eligible says the will did not provide for them properly. The window is generally 12 months from the death. Setting the will itself aside is a different exercise and needs something concrete, usually a later will surfacing.
Someone else applies for letters of administration with the will annexed, usually the main beneficiary. We see this most where the named executor died years before the will-maker, and nobody updated the will. The will still decides who inherits; the Court just appoints a different person to carry it out. A reluctant executor can be passed over too.
Where there is sole-name real estate, a grant is needed, and the rest of the analysis falls away. Each bank sets its own release threshold, and some pay out modest balances on a death certificate and an indemnity. Probate costs in NSW also rise with the estate’s value, so a small estate may not justify the filing fee.
Bring the death certificate and the will if you can find it. We will tell you in one conversation whether you need a grant, which type, and what the next fortnight looks like. Speak with a probate lawyer Sydney families have rated 5.0 across more than 80 reviews.
