What if there isn’t a Will?
Not everyone makes a will. The reason people make wills is to express their wishes on the division of their estate and the appointment of the executor. When someone dies without having made a will it is said the testator died intestate. The unsavoury truth is the government formula for division of the assets in the event of an intestacy rarely correlates to how a person would actually have dictated if he actually had made a will. It is a common urban myth that the government inherits the estate’s assets. Rather than applying to the Registrar of Probates for a Grant of Probate, it will be a Grant of Letters of Administration that will be issued to an Administrator to the Estate. If you find yourself in the position where a close relative to you has died and not left a will, you should contact us to discuss the procedures in making an Application for Grant of Letters of Administration.
What about Probate Duties or Death Duties?
Estate / death duties across Australia were abolished between 1977 and 1985. Queensland led first. Death duties have been usurped by the introduction of the federal Capital Gains Tax in September 1985. An executor still has the responsibility to prepare and lodge final tax returns and file estate returns and pay any unpaid tax liabilities.
What are the Responsibilities of Executors?
Traditionally the personal representative’s duties are summarised as follows:
- to reduce the estate of the deceased into possession;
- to pay the debts of the deceased; and
- to distribute the residue of the estate after payment of debts and expenses of administration, to those beneficially entitled under the will or intestacy rules.
Source de Groots. Wills Probate and Administration Practice (Victoria)