When someone dies without a valid will in Victoria, their estate does not automatically pass to their family. Before any assets can be collected, debts paid, or property transferred, an eligible person must apply to the Supreme Court of Victoria for a grant of letters of administration. This guide explains what letters of administration are, who can apply, how the application process works, and what to expect at each stage.
What Are Letters of Administration?
Letters of administration is the authority granted by the Supreme Court of Victoria to a person (called the administrator) to collect and manage the assets of someone who has died without leaving a valid will. Dying without a valid will is known as dying intestate.
Once the grant is issued, the administrator has the legal authority to collect the deceased’s assets (bank accounts, shares, real estate, and other property), pay the estate’s debts, liabilities, and expenses, and distribute the remaining assets to beneficiaries in accordance with Victoria’s intestacy laws.
Without this grant, financial institutions, share registries, and the Titles Office will generally refuse to release or transfer assets. A grant of letters of administration carries the same legal force as a grant of probate. The difference lies in the circumstances that trigger each type of application.
Letters of Administration vs Probate
Probate and letters of administration are two distinct types of grants, though both are issued by the Probate Office of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Probate is granted when the deceased left a valid will and the executor named in that will is applying to have the will recognised and their authority confirmed.
Letters of administration are granted when the deceased died intestate (without a valid will), the deceased left a will but did not name an executor, or the named executor is deceased, lacks capacity, or has renounced their appointment.
In both cases the grant authorises a named person to deal with the estate. The key distinction is that a probate application is governed by the terms of the will, while letters of administration on an intestacy follow Part IA of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), and letters of administration with the will annexed follow the will.
Who Can Apply for Letters of Administration?
The Supreme Court of Victoria generally grants letters of administration to the person or people with the greatest entitlement to share in the estate. An applicant must be over 18, and the Court’s general practice is not to grant administration to more than four people.
The Court’s hierarchy of relationships sets out the usual order: a partner (a spouse, a registered or unregistered domestic partner, or a registered caring partner), then a child, grandchild, parent, brother or sister, niece or nephew, grandparent, aunt or uncle, and cousin. If no relative applies, a creditor or State Trustees Limited may apply.
Where a person with higher priority does not wish to apply, they must sign a renunciation, a sworn declaration that they are aware of their entitlement to apply and are giving it up. Renunciations from all persons with a higher priority must be filed alongside the application.
If two or more people have equal priority (for example, two adult children), any one of them may apply with the consent of the others.
Step-by-Step: The Application Process
Letters of administration applications are filed through the Probate Office of the Supreme Court of Victoria using the online RedCrest-Probate e-filing system.
Step 1: Determine Whether a Grant Is Required
Not every estate requires a court grant. If all of the deceased’s assets were jointly owned (for example, a jointly held bank account or jointly owned real property), those assets pass automatically to the surviving owner and fall outside the estate. Some financial institutions will also release small accounts informally without a grant.
If the estate includes real estate held in the deceased’s sole name, or accounts and investments above each institution’s informal release threshold, a grant will almost certainly be required.
Step 2: Gather the Required Documents
Before filing, you will need a death certificate (the “cause of death” version issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria), an inventory of assets and liabilities with estimated values at the date of death, asset searches (title searches, share holding confirmations), renunciations from any person with a higher priority who is not applying, relationship evidence (marriage certificate, birth certificate), and, if the Court requires one, a surety guarantee (Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) s 57), for example where an attorney applies on behalf of someone who lives outside Victoria.
Step 3: Advertise Your Intention to Apply
You must publish a notice of your intended application on RedCrest-Probate at least 14 clear days before filing, so the application can be filed 15 days or more after the notice appears. This gives creditors and other interested parties an opportunity to raise any objection before the grant is made. The Court charges a small fee to publish the notice.
Step 4: Prepare Your Affidavit
After the advertising period, you complete your affidavit, a sworn statement setting out the circumstances of the death, the fact that the deceased died intestate, the identity and priority of all persons entitled to apply, the details of the estate, and confirmation that you are an eligible applicant. RedCrest-Probate generates the affidavit template based on your answers to a series of questions.
Step 5: File Your Application and Pay the Filing Fee
Once the affidavit is signed, you upload all documents through RedCrest-Probate and pay the applicable filing fee. After you submit, the Probate Office tells you which original documents, if any, to post. The Probate Office will review the application and, if everything is in order, the grant will be made.
Step 6: Administer the Estate
Once the grant is issued, you are legally authorised to manage the estate: contacting asset holders, collecting assets, paying outstanding debts, and distributing the balance to beneficiaries in accordance with Victoria’s intestacy rules.
Letters of Administration Forms: What You File
There is no single letters of administration form to download and fill in. RedCrest-Probate, the Court’s online filing system, builds the documents from your answers to its questions:
- the notice of your application, which is published online at least 15 days before you apply;
- your affidavit, which you sign in front of an authorised witness; and
- the inventory of the estate’s assets and liabilities.
You then scan the signed affidavit, the inventory and the death certificate, upload each as a separate file, and pay any filing fee. The Court’s guide to applying sets out each step.
Who Inherits When There Is No Will? Victoria’s Intestacy Rules
The distribution of an intestate estate is governed by Part IA of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic). The outcome depends entirely on the family circumstances of the deceased at the date of death.
Surviving Partner Only (No Children)
The surviving spouse or domestic partner inherits the entire estate.
Surviving Partner and Children (All from That Relationship)
Where the deceased is survived by a partner and children who are all children of that same partner, the partner inherits the entire estate.
Surviving Partner and Children from a Different Relationship
Where the deceased is survived by a partner and has children who are not children of the surviving partner, the estate is divided as follows: the partner receives all personal chattels, a statutory legacy ($591,390 for deaths on or after 1 July 2026; the amount is indexed each 1 July) with interest, and half of the balance (Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) ss 70L, 70M). The deceased’s children share the other half of the balance equally among them. If the total value of the estate is less than the statutory legacy, the partner takes the entire estate.
No Partner, Surviving Children Only
The estate is divided equally between the children. If a child predeceased the deceased but left their own children (the deceased’s grandchildren), those grandchildren share their parent’s portion equally.
No Partner and No Children
The estate passes in the following order: parents, brothers and sisters (with nieces and nephews taking the share of a predeceased sibling), grandparents, aunts and uncles (with first cousins taking the share of a predeceased aunt or uncle), and finally the Crown (bona vacantia) if no surviving relatives can be identified.
Stepchildren are not entitled to a share on intestacy unless they were formally adopted by the deceased. Adopted children, however, are treated in the same way as biological children.
How Long Does the Process Take?
After the notice has been online for at least 15 days and you file the application, the Probate Office reviews it. The Court’s published processing time is 5 to 10 working days after filing, but it warns that applications are currently taking longer. Its Probate Office FAQs give the week it is working on: in the week starting 26 October 2026, it was reviewing applications received in the week starting 14 September 2026, about six weeks after filing.
More complex applications (where beneficiaries are missing, where there are disputes about priority, or where overseas assets are involved) can take considerably longer.
Administering the estate after the grant is issued (collecting assets, paying debts, and distributing to beneficiaries) typically takes a further three to six months, depending on the nature and complexity of the estate.
Is There a Time Limit to Apply?
No. There is no deadline for applying for letters of administration. If more than three years have passed since the death, your affidavit must explain the delay.
Waiting has practical costs, though. Until the grant is made, the deceased’s accounts generally cannot be collected, and property in their sole name cannot be sold or transferred.
Court Filing Fees
The Court’s filing fee depends on the gross value of the Victorian estate, and there is no fee for estates under $250,000. The fees change on 1 July each year; see the Supreme Court’s current Probate Office fees.
These fees apply equally to applications for probate, letters of administration, and resealing of foreign grants. The filing fee is paid from estate funds and is treated as an expense of administration. There is also a small fee for publishing the notice of intended application. Legal costs, if you engage a solicitor, are separate.
Small Estates: When the Probate Office Prepares the Application
For a small, simple estate, the Probate Office offers an optional service: its staff place the advertisement and prepare your affidavit. For deaths between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027, the estate must be worth no more than $137,210. The service costs $285, plus the $38 advertisement fee.
The service is not available in some situations. These include where there is no will and the applicant is an unregistered domestic partner, where there is no will and minor children are entitled, and where the applicant is unsure whether a beneficiary is alive, over 18 or able to manage their own affairs. The Probate Office cannot advise on administering the estate. The Court’s small estates page has the full list.
Common Complications
Missing Beneficiaries
If a beneficiary cannot be located, the distribution of the estate must be delayed while reasonable steps are taken to find them. The administrator can be held personally liable if they distribute the estate without making adequate enquiries.
Family Disputes
Disputes between family members about who should administer the estate, or about the valuation of assets, can delay the application significantly. Where two or more persons have equal priority and cannot agree, the matter may need to be resolved by the court.
Overseas Assets
A Victorian grant of letters of administration does not automatically extend to assets held in another country. If the deceased owned real estate, bank accounts, or shares overseas, a separate grant or equivalent order will generally be required in that jurisdiction.
Blended Families
Where the deceased had children from more than one relationship, the interplay between the statutory legacy, the partner’s entitlements, and the claims of children from earlier relationships can create genuine complexity and may require negotiation or court intervention.
When to Engage a Lawyer
The Supreme Court’s RedCrest-Probate system is designed to allow unrepresented applicants to file their own applications. In straightforward cases (a sole surviving spouse applying for a simple estate), self-representation is workable.
Legal advice is strongly advisable when the estate includes real property held solely by the deceased, multiple persons are entitled to apply and renunciations must be obtained, the family structure is complex, there are assets in another country, beneficiaries cannot be located, the estate is large or includes business interests or debt, or there are claims likely to be made against the estate.
An administrator who distributes an estate incorrectly can be held personally liable for any resulting loss. Getting it right from the outset is considerably less expensive than correcting it later.
Contact Professional Edge Lawyers
At Professional Edge Lawyers in Frankston, we help families across Victoria with letters of administration applications from start to finish, gathering documents, preparing the affidavit, managing the court filing, and advising on the distribution of the estate. If you need to obtain letters of administration or have questions about what happens when someone dies without a will, call us on 1800 776 529 for clear, practical advice from an experienced estates solicitor.
Ready to apply? See our probate and letters of administration lawyers page, or give us the details through our probate and letters of administration instructions form.
This article is general information only. It is not legal advice about your situation, so obtain advice on your own circumstances before acting.
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