When someone dies, the word probate usually arrives before anyone has had time to work out what it means — normally in a letter from a bank saying that nothing can be released until a grant is produced.
Put simply, probate is the Supreme Court of South Australia confirming that a will is valid and that the executor named in it has authority to deal with the estate. It is not a tax, it is not an audit of the estate, and it is not required every time someone dies. Whether you need it comes down to what the deceased owned and who was holding it.
What a grant actually does
An executor's authority comes from the will itself, not from the court. What the grant provides is proof of that authority — a sealed document that a bank, a share registry or Land Services SA can rely on when handing over assets or registering a transfer. Once it issues, the executor can call in the assets, pay the debts, and distribute what is left in accordance with the will.
There are three grants people commonly encounter, and the difference between them matters when you are working out who may apply:
| Grant | When it is used | Who applies |
|---|---|---|
| Probate | There is a valid will and a willing executor | The executor named in the will |
| Letters of administration with the will annexed | There is a valid will but no executor able or willing to act | Usually the main beneficiary |
| Letters of administration | There is no valid will at all | The next of kin, in order of entitlement — see our guide to dying without a will in South Australia |
When probate is required — and when it is not
A grant is generally needed where the deceased held assets in their sole name that someone else must be persuaded to release or transfer. In practice that means:
- Real property in the deceased's sole name, or held as tenants in common. This is the most common trigger in South Australia, and it applies whether the property is to be sold or transferred to a beneficiary.
- Substantial bank or share holdings in the deceased's own name.
- Superannuation or life insurance where the trustee or insurer decides to pay the benefit to the estate rather than to a nominated beneficiary.
- An asset holder who simply insists on it — which is their prerogative, and is usually about their own protection rather than the size of the estate.
Equally, plenty of estates need no grant at all. Property held as joint tenants passes to the surviving owner by survivorship and never forms part of the estate — a surviving spouse ordinarily deals with it by lodging an application to note the death, not by applying for probate. Superannuation and life insurance paid directly to a nominated beneficiary bypass the estate. And the Succession Act 2023 (SA) now allows an institution holding personal property worth up to $15,000 to release it to a surviving spouse, domestic partner or child without any grant, which resolves a good number of modest estates.
Where an estate sits in between, the sensible step is to write to each asset holder, tell them what is held and what the estate looks like, and ask directly whether they will release without a grant. Institutions set their own thresholds and they vary widely. That single round of letters can save an estate several months and the cost of an application it never needed.
How the application works
Applications are lodged electronically through CourtSA. The steps are straightforward in principle, and the delays almost always come from gathering the material rather than from the Court itself:
- Locate the signed original will. A photocopy is not sufficient. If the original cannot be found, a separate and more involved application is required to prove the copy.
- Obtain the death certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages — not the doctor's or funeral director's notification.
- Identify every asset and liability at the date of death, with date-of-death balances and valuations. The Court requires a full statement, and getting it wrong is one of the more common causes of a requisition.
- Complete the online application with the executor's oath, supporting affidavits where anything is unusual, and identity verification.
- Lodge the original will physically with the Probate Registry. The electronic application alone will not be processed without it.
- Answer any requisitions. The Registry examines every application, and questions about execution, alterations to the will, or an incomplete asset statement are common. Each round adds time.
Court filing fees are set by a scale that rises with the value of the estate, so they are best checked against the current CourtSA fee schedule rather than assumed. As to timing, a straightforward application that is complete when lodged is typically measured in weeks; anything involving a requisition, a missing original, an informal document or a caveat should be assumed to take considerably longer.
What the executor has to do after the grant
The grant is the beginning of the work, not the end of it. The Succession Act 2023 codified executor duties that previously sat in case law, which is helpful for executors — and equally helpful for beneficiaries who believe those duties are not being met. Broadly, an executor must:
- Call in and safeguard the estate assets, and keep them insured
- Pay the debts and any final tax liabilities, in the order the Act sets out
- Keep proper accounts and be ready to explain them to beneficiaries
- Act impartially between beneficiaries, and not profit from the role
- Distribute in accordance with the will, and only once it is safe to do so
That last point is the one that catches people. A family provision claim can generally be brought within six months of the grant, so an executor who distributes early can find themselves personally exposed if a claim then succeeds. Waiting out that period before making final distributions is the standard and sensible course, even where nobody expects a claim. Our guide for executors covers the administration in more detail.
Where estates go wrong
- Distributing too early. Beneficiaries apply pressure, and it is the executor — not the estate — who bears the risk.
- Assuming a copy of the will is fine. The original matters. If it was held by a firm that has since closed or merged, start looking early.
- Informal or home-made wills. Unsigned documents, notes, and will kits with witnessing errors can sometimes be admitted, but only by way of a further application with affidavit evidence — which costs far more than a properly drawn will ever would have.
- Missing assets. Old accounts, unclaimed money, shares from a demutualisation decades ago, and cryptocurrency all routinely surface after distribution.
- Assets in another state or overseas. A grant made elsewhere generally needs to be resealed here, and a foreign estate may need its own process.
- Selling estate property without advice. A sale from an estate involves a transmission application and the executor's duties to the beneficiaries sitting on top of an ordinary conveyance — one of the situations where a lawyer rather than a conveyancer is the safer choice.
- Two executors who cannot agree. Better dealt with early, and more cheaply, than through the Court.
Can you do it yourself?
Yes — the Registry accepts personal applications, and for a small, uncomplicated estate with one beneficiary and no real property, some executors manage perfectly well. The calculation changes when there is a house to transfer or sell, more than one beneficiary, a blended family, a business, an unusual or home-made will, or any hint of a dispute. In those cases the executor is carrying personal liability for decisions made under pressure and often while grieving, and the cost of advice is modest set against what a mistake costs to fix.
How Zed Legal can help
We act for executors and administrators through the whole of an estate — obtaining the grant, dealing with banks, superannuation funds and Land Services SA, attending to the sale or transfer of estate property, and completing the distribution — and we quote a fixed fee before the work begins so the estate knows where it stands.
We also prepare wills, powers of attorney and advance care directives, which is where most of this becomes simpler for the next generation.
If you have been named as an executor and are not sure what to do first, call (08) 8166 7569 or email hello@zed.legal. We reply within one business day.
This article is general information only and was last reviewed in August 2026. It is not legal advice and does not take your circumstances into account. Court fees, thresholds and procedures change — please obtain advice specific to the estate you are dealing with.