DECEASED ESTATE ADMINISTRATION IN AUSTRALIA CANBERRA ACT & NSW

Administration of a simple estate

When a person is appointed an executor in a will, the appointment only takes effect after death. A Court Grant is a formal recognition of a persons right to administer the estate and that person's authority to deal with the deceased's property.

Over the last 20 years or so the need for a Grant by the Courts has been relaxed. An application for a Court Grant is still however necessary in many cases, but many large estates (in terms of value) are handled without Grants from the Court. This may or may not be a prudent thing to do.

An application to the Court costs a considerable amount in advertising of the application in a newspaper, Court lodgment fees and legal costs. The major cost however is the actual finalisation after the Grant by the Court. This is the closing of banks accounts, transferring shares and real estate, motor vehicle ownership, lodging tax returns etc.

Let's consider what happens in a fairly typical estate consisting of -

two bank accounts with $15,000.00 and $25,000.00 held with different banks in the sole name of the deceased
a home which is jointly owned by the deceased and his spouse
some hundreds of shares
a motor car
furniture and personal belongings.

The deceased's wife is the sole beneficiary of the estate, although the deceased had two under age children.

In this example it is very likely that a Grant is not needed. The reason for this is -

the two banks will release the funds to the widow on the provision of a certified copy of the will, a death certificate and the completion of indemnity forms. Some years ago accounts with such large amounts would not have been released by banks without a Grant.
As the home is "jointly" owned, the deceased's interest passes to the widow without the will. Law says that property owned as "joint tenants" automatically passes to the survivor on the death of a joint tenant. This is called "survivorship". A will cannot affect "survivorship". This property can be transferred to the widow through a "Notice of Death" lodged at the Land Titles Office.
The shares and the motor car can be transferred to the widow in the same manner as the bank accounts.
The title to the furniture passes by virtue of survivorship or simply by the possession of it by the widow.

Although many persons find the administration of a deceased estate distressing, the process is not very difficult and need not be expensive.

Further information is provided on the "Next" page.