The estate
Executor role, probate, the timeline, what slows it down. The Australian process in plain English.
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§ Journey
Executor role, probate, the timeline, what slows it down. The Australian process in plain English.
Six weeks after the funeral, I sat in a solicitor's office in Crows Nest with a manila folder my father had left for exactly this moment. Will inside, super statements clipped together, bank account list, the title for the house, the registration for the boat. He'd been the operations manager of his own life, and he'd handed me the manual.
Most parents don't leave that folder.
If you're named executor in the will, you have a legal obligation. You're the person the law holds accountable for collecting the estate, paying debts, doing the tax return, and distributing what's left.
What that means in practice:
Probate is the Supreme Court's official confirmation that the will is valid.
Whether you need it depends on what's in the estate. NSW, VIC, QLD: required if there's real estate solely owned, or any single asset above the bank's threshold ($15,000-$50,000+).
If everything was jointly owned with the surviving spouse, you can often skip probate.
Cost: $1,500-$4,000 in straightforward cases, plus court filing fees ($500-$1,500). Timeline: 4-12 weeks.
Find the will first. Common places:
If there's no will (intestate), the law decides distribution by formula. The surviving spouse gets the bulk; if no spouse, children share equally.
Weeks 1-4: gather. Death certificate (get 6-10 copies), the will, last 12 months of bank statements, super fund letters, insurance policies, title for the house.
Weeks 4-12: notify and freeze. Bank, super fund, Centrelink, Medicare, ATO, energy and phone providers, council.
Weeks 8-16: probate (if needed).
Months 4-6: pay debts, do the final tax return.
Months 6-12: distribute.
Contested estates run 2-5 years.
Bank accounts. Joint accounts pass to the survivor automatically. Solo accounts are frozen on notification.
Super. Super doesn't form part of the estate unless directed there. If your parent had a binding death benefit nomination, the super goes directly to the named beneficiary.
Real estate. If owned as joint tenants, the surviving spouse takes the whole property automatically.
For a moderate estate (house, super, a couple of bank accounts, no contest):
Budget $8,000-$15,000 all-in. The estate pays, not you.
Distributing too early. Don't. Not until tax is clear and the grant is in hand.
Selling the house too fast. Sit on it for at least six months unless the mortgage is bleeding the estate.
Doing it without a solicitor to save money. Get the solicitor for anything beyond the simplest estate.
The estate is admin grief. The grief is its own thing. Don't conflate them.
Take longer than you think. Spend on the solicitor. Keep the receipts.
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