How long after the date of death can I apply for Probate?

Before you are able to make an application for a Grant of Probate, there are a number of matters that need to be addressed, including:

• Original Will: You will need to obtain the original Will of the deceased. We can help you with this process.

• Death Certificate: You will need to obtain the original Death Certificate from the Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages. The Death Certificate is normally arranged by the Funeral Director and mailed to you by Registered Post. This normally takes 3 to 4 weeks to arrive after the date of death.

• Asset & liability details: You will need to obtain full up to date details of all of the estate assets and liabilities as this information will form part of the Application for Probate documents. This can take a number of weeks, sometimes even months, depending on the extent of the assets and liabilities and the efficiency of the entities you are dealing with.

• Advertising a 'Notice of Intention to Apply for Probate' in the Supreme Court of NSW: You must publish this Notice and then you must wait until at least 14 days after the date of the Notice before you can lodge the Application for Probate. We show you the steps involved to successfully lodge this Notice.

As you can see, there are a number of matters to deal with before you can make the Application for a Grant of Probate and whilst there can be some overlap with the timing on some of those steps, from our experience, an application for a Grant of Probate is generally ready to be filed with the Supreme Court somewhere between 2 & 3 months after the date of death.

Simply follow our step by step guide under our DIY Probate packages and you'll be ready before you know it.

Probate. Simply. We're here for you.