Practice Areas / Probate & Estate Administration
Probate & Estate Administration Lawyers
Probate, letters of administration and estate disputes for executors and families across Melbourne, Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula. We can also help in Polish.
After someone dies
Being named as an executor, or being the closest relative of someone who died without a will, brings legal responsibilities at a difficult time. Executors can be personally liable if they pay the wrong people or distribute too early, and families can be caught out by deadlines they did not know about.
We guide executors and administrators from the first steps to the final distribution, and we act for beneficiaries and claimants when an estate is disputed. Radek Dajer looks after each estate personally and can work with family members in Polish.
How we help with probate and estates
Probate and administration
Applications to the Supreme Court of Victoria for probate of a will, or for letters of administration where there is no will or executor.
Executor support
Collecting assets, paying debts and tax, dealing with banks and super funds, and distributing the estate to the right people at the right time.
Contested estates
Family provision claims, disputes about whether a will is valid, and applications about executors who will not act properly.
Small estates
Advice on whether a grant is needed at all, and how assets can be released or transferred when an estate is small or jointly owned.
Probate and letters of administration
A grant of representation from the Supreme Court of Victoria confirms who has authority to deal with the estate. Banks, share registries and the land titles office usually need to see a grant before they will release or transfer assets.
- Probate: granted to the executor named in a valid will. The original will is filed with the application.
- Letters of administration: granted where there is no will, or where no executor named in the will is willing and able to act. Without a will, the estate passes under the intestacy rules in the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic).
- The application: the intended application is first advertised online through the Court’s RedCrest-Probate system, then filed with affidavits and a statement of the estate’s assets and liabilities.
- When a grant may not be needed: property owned as joint tenants passes to the survivor, and the law allows holders of small amounts of money or personal property to release them without a grant, up to an indexed threshold. They are not obliged to.
Administering the estate
Once the grant is made, the executor or administrator collects the assets, pays the debts and distributes what is left according to the will or the intestacy rules. It is a role with real legal duties.
- Assets and debts: identifying and collecting assets, paying funeral expenses and debts, and keeping proper records and accounts.
- Tax: final individual tax returns, any tax returns for the estate itself, and capital gains tax questions when property or shares are sold or transferred.
- Notice of intended distribution: an executor can publish a statutory notice under section 33 of the Trustee Act 1958 (Vic), giving creditors and claimants at least two months to send in their claims. After it expires, the executor is protected from claims they had no notice of when they distribute.
- Family provision period: under the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), a distribution properly made more than 6 months after the grant is protected, provided the executor has had no notice of a family provision claim.
- Distribution: preparing estate accounts, obtaining releases, and transferring or selling real estate and shares.
Wait before you distribute
An executor who distributes within 6 months after the grant, or after learning that a family provision claim has been made, can be personally liable if the claim succeeds. Take advice before you pay out any inheritance, even to family members who are pressing for it.
Contested estates
Estate disputes usually take one of three forms: a claim that the will does not make adequate provision for someone, a challenge to the will itself, or a dispute about how the executor is doing the job. We act for claimants, beneficiaries and executors.
- Family provision claims: under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), an eligible person can ask the court for provision, or further provision, from an estate. Eligible people include a spouse or domestic partner, children and stepchildren, and in some cases others who depended on the deceased.
- Time limit: a family provision application must be made within 6 months after the date of the grant. The court can extend the time, but an application to extend must be made before the estate is finally distributed.
- Challenges to a will: doubts about the will-maker’s capacity, knowledge and approval, undue influence, fraud, or whether the will was properly signed and witnessed. A caveat can be lodged to stop a grant while a genuine dispute is resolved.
- Executor disputes: applications to make an executor account for the estate, or to remove an executor or administrator who refuses or is unfit to act and appoint someone in their place.
Need help with an estate?
Book a consultation to talk through the estate and your role in it. If you are an executor or administrator, you can also send us the details online to get started.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Not always. A grant is usually needed if the deceased owned real estate in their sole name, or if a bank or other institution holding assets asks for one. Property owned as joint tenants passes to the surviving owner without a grant, and some institutions will release smaller amounts without one. We can tell you early whether a grant is needed.
Usually the closest relative applies to the Supreme Court of Victoria for letters of administration, and the estate passes under the intestacy rules in the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), which set out who inherits and in what shares. Our guide to letters of administration explains who can apply and how.
It depends on the estate. A straightforward application for a grant takes some weeks once the advertising period has passed. Most executors should not distribute until at least 6 months after the grant because of the time limit for family provision claims. Estates with property to sell, tax issues or disputes take longer.
No. An executor’s authority starts only on death. While your parent is alive but unable to make decisions, financial and personal decisions are made by any attorney they appointed under an enduring power of attorney, and medical decisions by their medical treatment decision maker.
If you are an eligible person, you may be able to make a family provision claim, which must generally be filed within 6 months after the grant. The court looks at factors such as your relationship with the deceased, your financial needs, other claims on the estate and its size. Many claims are resolved by negotiation or mediation.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can explain the process to executors and beneficiaries in Polish. He is also a notary public, which helps when documents signed here need to be notarised for use in Poland. See our Polish-language services.
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