How to get a Grant of Probate yourself — free guide

Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Wills are drafted so you can apply for a Grant of Probate yourself. You do this with the help of your accountant and financial adviser.

You can apply online in any Australian state or territory. This is through their Supreme Court website. The Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will is expressly drafted to comply with each different state’s Wills Act. Our Wills incorporate specific statutory forms and precise attestation clauses to satisfy each jurisdiction.

This level of comprehensive, multi-state compliance provides a distinct structural advantage. Proactively addressing the strict procedural requirements of each specific registry makes the application for a Grant of Probate more streamlined. This empowers your executors to navigate the probate process independently.

Furthermore, the cost of building a Will on our website includes free advice on how you and your advisers can benefit and set up the many trusts in the 3-Generation Testamentary Trust. These include:
Here is a practical guide to the Probate process and how to activate the tax and asset protection benefits inside a Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will.

Do I need a Grant of Probate?

Check if you actually need a Grant of Probate. You bypass Probate in these situations:
  • The estate is small: Banks and other asset holders sometimes release smaller balances without Probate. Ask each asset holder what it requires.
  • Assets are held as Joint Tenants: The family home or joint bank accounts held as “joint tenants” automatically pass to the surviving owner. You merely present the Death Certificate and the Survivorship Application form to the Titles Office.
You must apply for a Grant of Probate if an asset holder, such as a bank or the land titles office, refuses to hand over or transfer assets to the executor without it.
Superannuation is different:
Your accountant and financial adviser review where your superannuation death benefits should be paid. A Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will contains specialised Superannuation Testamentary Trust machinery to help your advisers direct superannuation through the estate and exploit the available tax concessions. This is to reduce the non-dependancy death tax of 15% or 30%, plus the 2% Medicare. Adults, including adult children, suffer this death tax.
When to get legal help before applying:
Get legal help from your local deceased estate lawyer if the original Will is lost, torn, marked, altered, or damaged. Also seek legal advice if someone is likely to challenge the Will. Telephone Legal Consolidated and we can recommend a deceased estate lawyer in your area.

1. How to start the Probate Process

Probate is the formal administrative step where the Supreme Court legally recognises that the Will is valid.  Once granted, you get the legal authority to deal with asset holders. The Supreme Court process requires attention to detail. Starting with a robust Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will puts you in an excellent position.
Hint: Never remove the staples or bindings from the original Will to photocopy it. Removing staples suggests that pages were removed or substituted.

2. Apply for the Grant of Probate online

Every Australian Supreme Court has online tools, forms, and step-by-step instructions to help executors apply.
Free guide to doing Probate yourself
An application for a Grant of Probate usually requires 5 documents:
  1. A Motion or Application for a Grant of Probate.
  2. The Executor’s Affidavit.
  3. A Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
  4. The original Will.
  5. The original Death Certificate.

Links to the Australian Probate Offices

Each state and territory has an online Probate application service:

3. After Probate: Your Accountant and Financial Adviser

Securing the Grant of Probate is only the doorway. Your accountant and financial adviser take the lead here to maximise the estate’s assets. The Will gives beneficiaries enormous flexibility to decide which of its trusts to activate and how the inheritance is structured.
Setting up a trust from a Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust is straightforward. You do not buy another trust deed. The trust machinery is already inside the Legal Consolidated Will. Your accountant prepares the appropriate trustee minute, identifies the trust and obtains its TFN. An ABN is obtained where required.
Once you get the Grant of Probate, your financial professionals help you:
  • Open Bank Accounts: Open separate bank accounts in the names of the specific trusts.
  • Use the section 102AG tax concessions: Qualifying income distributed from the Testamentary Trust to children under 18 is treated as “excepted trust income” under section 102AG of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth). Instead of the punitive tax rates applying to ordinary unearned income of minors, the normal individual tax rates apply. This gives your accountant valuable income-distribution opportunities for children and grandchildren.
  • Strategic Asset Allocation: Beneficiaries work with their advisers to structure the inheritance. A beneficiary might take the main residence in their own name to preserve the capital gains tax-free window, while placing high-income-producing assets into the Testamentary Trust.

4. Working With Your Professional Team

A deceased estate lawyer deals with contested or difficult Probate administration. Your accountant and financial adviser help implement the tax and investment strategy. Legal Consolidated supports them with the tax, superannuation and testamentary trust machinery already built into your 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will.
Legal Consolidated is a specialist tax and superannuation law firm and does not provide deceased estate administration advice. However, you and your advisers are welcome to contact us for advice on how to correctly establish the trusts within the Will as part of your broader estate plan.

Getting Probate outside of Australia

What if the Will maker had assets overseas? The Legal Consolidated 3-Generation Testamentary Trust Will is drafted to include worldwide assets. Under the Hague Conference on Private International Law, 83 countries automatically honour Wills prepared by Legal Consolidated. Because these Wills are expressly drafted to satisfy the Hague Convention, you possess a significant advantage when managing overseas assets.

The process is:

    • You first obtain Probate in Australia, which proves the Will is valid and allows the executor to manage the estate.

    • Once you have Australian Probate, you can get it resealed in the country where the estate holds assets.

    • This resealing process validates the Australian Probate in that overseas jurisdiction.

3-Generation Testamentary Death Kit