Executor Checklist Victoria Australia: Probate Steps and Time Limits

This guide is about Victoria, the Australian state, where grants are issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria. It is not about the city of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, which has its own rules. If you have been named executor in a Victorian will, this executor checklist Victoria Australia guide explains the role, the choice between informal administration and a grant, the time limits set by law and the usual order of the work.

The executor's role in Victoria, Australia

An executor is named in the will. Where there is no valid will, or the executor cannot or will not act, the Court appoints an administrator. Both are personal representatives, and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) calls the person authorised to act the legal personal representative.

In practice you gather the assets, pay the debts and hand over what remains to the people entitled to it. You act in good faith for the beneficiaries, keep the home and vehicles insured, and run every payment through an estate account separate from your own money.

Informal administration, small estates or a full grant

Many Victorian estates are finalised without a grant, but the asset holders largely decide. The Court describes four routes:

• No grant: possible where there is no real estate held solely or as a tenant in common and each asset holder agrees to release funds, often for small amounts with no complications. Money held entirely in a joint bank account may pass to the surviving holder on a death certificate.
• Small estates optional service: where a grant is needed, the application is simple, the applicant is the named executor (or next of kin if there is no will) and the estate is below the limit: $137,210 for deaths between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. The limit changes each financial year. For a fee, the Probate Office helps prepare the paperwork, places the advertisement and prepares the affidavit.
• Grant of probate: for a valid will whose named executor applies.
• Letters of administration: with the will annexed when the executor cannot or will not apply, or without a will. The Court's online questionnaire helps identify which grant fits.

Real estate held solely or as a tenant in common always needs a grant.

Time limits that shape the administration

The notice of intended distribution is optional. It is published in the Victoria Government Gazette and a Melbourne daily newspaper; after the date in it, you may distribute taking into account only the claims you know about.

Executor checklist Victoria Australia: steps in order

1. Locate the original will and codicils, and order the death certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria.
2. Secure the property and list assets and debts. Super and jointly owned property often pass outside the estate.
3. Notify the ATO, Services Australia and each super fund. The free Australian Death Notification Service can reach several organisations at once once the death is registered.
4. Ask each asset holder whether it requires a grant.
5. Create a RedCrest-Probate account and publish the advertisement of your intention to apply.
6. Prepare the affidavit and the inventory of assets and liabilities in RedCrest. The affidavit is signed before an authorised witness.
7. File online after the 15 days, pay any fee and post originals if asked, such as the will and the certificate identifying exhibits. Answer any requisitions from the Probate Office.
8. Administer the estate: collect assets, pay debts, record land with Land Use Victoria, tell VicRoads and the State Revenue Office where relevant, then distribute.

Tax, fees and getting help

Australia has no inheritance or estate tax, but federal tax still matters. The date of death return covers 1 July of the income year of death to the date of death; if none is needed, a non-lodgment advice marked 'DECEASED' is lodged instead. Income the estate earns afterwards may require a deceased estate trust return. Passing an asset to a beneficiary is generally not a capital gains tax event, and an inherited home may be fully exempt if the sale settles within 2 years of the death and the conditions are met. Probate Office fees, including the advertisement and small estates service, are set by the Court, so check the current schedule.

No lawyer is required, and the Court says many people apply on their own. For contested applications the Probate Office cannot advise and legal advice is encouraged. Advice may also help where the estate cannot pay its debts, or there is no will and the death was before 1 November 2017.

The Steady Executor Victoria kit is written for Victoria, Australia, and contains five files. The user guide walks through the role, deadlines and steps, each linked to an official source. The executor workbook calculates the legal deadlines from your dates and records assets, debts, the estate account and distributions. Separate letter templates cover financial institutions and super funds, services and government agencies, and beneficiaries, with a receipt form for each distribution.

Sources

• Supreme Court of Victoria: How to apply for a grant of probate or administration
• Supreme Court of Victoria: Grants of probate and administration of deceased estates
• Supreme Court of Victoria: Probate Office FAQs
• Supreme Court of Victoria: Small estates optional service
• Supreme Court of Victoria: Probate Office fees
• Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic)
• ATO: Deceased estates