Guides
Victorian probate and estate guides
Start with a main guide for the overall topic, then use the supporting guides for specific questions. All guides are general information about Victorian law and are reviewed before publication.
Main guides
- Probate in VictoriaWhen a grant is needed, the grant types and the application.
- Letters of administration in VictoriaApplying where there is no will, and intestacy distribution.
- Estate administration in VictoriaCollecting assets, debts, tax, accounts and distribution.
- Executor advice in VictoriaDuties, personal liability, co-executors and commission.
- Probate costs in VictoriaThe Court's dated fee table and the scope of legal costs.
Applying for a grant
- When is probate required in Victoria?How to work out whether a Victorian estate needs a grant: asking asset holders, sole and jointly held land, superannuation and assets outside Victoria.
- How to apply for probate in VictoriaThe ordered RedCrest-Probate workflow: account, 15-day notice, affidavit, filing, posting original documents, requisitions and the electronic grant.
- Documents needed for a probate application in VictoriaWhat to gather for a Victorian grant: death certificate showing cause of death, original will, asset and debt details, and extra evidence by grant type.
- Probate requisitions in VictoriaWhat a Probate Office requisition is, why it is not necessarily a rejection, common reasons it is issued and how to respond through RedCrest-Probate.
Will problems
- What to do if the original will is missing in VictoriaSearching for a missing will, preserving evidence, the presumption of revocation, proving a copy and the due-execution evidence the Victorian Court may need.
- What happens if there is no valid will in Victoria?Telling apart no will found, a doubtful document, an informal will, a lost original and true intestacy, and which Victorian grant each situation leads to.
Administering the estate
- How long does probate take in Victoria?Why no fixed timeframe applies: the 15-day notice minimum, variable Probate Office review, requisitions, asset collection, tax, claims and distribution.
- Executor duties checklist for VictoriaA practical, stage-by-stage working checklist for Victorian executors, with risk controls for records, estate funds, conflicts, tax and distribution.
- When can an estate be distributed in Victoria?How section 49, the section 99 family provision limit, debts, tax, reserves and interim distributions bear on when a Victorian executor can distribute.
- Who pays probate costs in Victoria?Who pays upfront, when the estate reimburses, what counts as a proper expense, and how Court fees, legal fees and disbursements differ in Victoria.
Complex estates and disputes
- Probate caveats in VictoriaWhat a probate caveat is in Victoria, what it does and does not do, how it differs from a title caveat or family provision claim, and what happens next.
- Informal wills in VictoriaHow the Supreme Court may admit an unsigned, unwitnessed or digital document as a will under section 9 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic), and the evidence needed.
- Renouncing as an executor in VictoriaHow a named executor renounces probate in Victoria, why a legal practitioner explains and witnesses it, the effect of intermeddling and who applies instead.
- Letters of administration with the will annexed in VictoriaThe grant used in Victoria where there is a will but no executor able and willing to prove it: who applies, accounting for each executor, and how it differs.
- Resealing probate in VictoriaWhen an interstate or overseas grant can be resealed by the Supreme Court of Victoria, which jurisdictions qualify, the affidavit procedure and alternatives.
- Deceased estates with overseas assetsWhy a Victorian grant may not be enough overseas, how domicile and foreign wills are approached, foreign-law evidence, reseals and separate grants.
- Superannuation death benefits and the estateWhy super does not automatically form part of a deceased estate, how nominations, trustee discretion and fund rules work, and how tax dependency differs.
- Tax obligations for a deceased estateAustralia has no inheritance tax, but an estate may still have tax duties: date-of-death and outstanding returns, estate trust returns, CGT and super tax.
- Family provision risk for executors in VictoriaWhat a potential family provision claim means for an executor in Victoria: the s 99 time limit and its extension, neutrality, and protecting distribution.
- Executor disputes in VictoriaThe different kinds of executor dispute in Victoria, from co-executor deadlock and accounts to removal and revocation, and how each is usually approached.
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