Grief is hard enough. Let us carry the legal burden.

This is one of the first processes/steps we take off your plate. The Court’s application system has strict procedural criteria: mandatory advertising, detailed affidavits, and verified asset and liability inventories.

• Flawless Court Lodgements: We can handle all of it. Every mandatory advertisement, affidavit, verified inventory of assets and liabilities and custom application is prepared, checked and lodged with the meticulousness the Court demands. You do not need to learn the system. That is our job.

Sometimes circumstances mean that the named executor can’t take on the role, and that can feel like the most overwhelming position of all. If the named executor has passed away, wishes to renounce the role, or lost capacity, the estate cannot move forward until the Supreme Court of Victoria issues a formal Grant of Letters of Administration. The same process applies when someone dies without leaving a valid will. Either way, the family is in limbo, and someone needs to step in so that the estate assets can be accessed and distributed. We are ready to help and can guide you through the appropriate pathway:

• Letters of Administration (with Will annexed) where a valid Will exists but the named executor is unable or unwilling to act. We advise on the appropriate administrator applicant and manage the entire process to establish administrative control, clearing the path for the estate to move forward.

• Letters of Administration (on an intestacy basis) where the deceased passed away without a valid will. Dying without a will creates immediate uncertainty for a family. We step into that ambiguity and guide you through the process of determining the strict legal order of priority. Governed by Part IA of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), this establishes exactly who has the right to manage the estate. We handle the complex evidentiary requirements, including verifying eligible de facto partnerships and tracing linear descendants, where necessary and appropriate, so the estate can be distributed lawfully and in an orderly way.

These processes can feel overwhelming from the outside. From where we sit, though, it’s a clear, well-worn path, and we will walk you through every step.

A frozen business does not wait for probate. If the deceased held a sole directorship or the controlling shareholding in a private company, every day without intervention costs money, reputation and momentum.

You don’t have to watch it fall apart while the paperwork catches up.

• Corporate trustee transitions: If the deceased was a sole director or held the controlling shareholding in a proprietary limited (Pty Ltd) company, the business may be unable to operate. We can help. We step in and guide you through the complexity of the corporate constitution, the company register, the directorship replacement and transmission of shares under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), acting methodically and promptly to restore full commercial operations.

• Interim business continuity: In cases where the business faces immediate risk, such as active litigation, administration, or operational collapse due to the death of the sole director, we do not wait for standard probate timelines to expire. We can apply to the Supreme Court of Victoria for special limited grants of representation to protect the estate’s assets and stabilise the business while probate is processed. The priority is to make sure the estate and its assets are protected.

If the person who passed away held assets in more than one state or country, you are dealing with an additional degree of complexity that most executors do not expect.

A grant of probate issued in one jurisdiction may not have legal authority in another. Until the grant is formally recognised, assets held elsewhere can be locked. 

• Incoming Victorian Reseals. If you are based interstate or overseas and the deceased held assets in Victoria, you may not need to start the probate process again from scratch in Victoria. Pursuant to Section 81 of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), we can arrange for the existing foreign or interstate grant to be resealed by the Supreme Court of Victoria, giving you legal authority over Victorian assets quickly and without duplication.

• Outgoing global recognitions. If the deceased was based in Victoria but held assets in other Australian states, or across international borders - whether those assets sit in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, or civil law jurisdictions across Europe, such as Switzerland - we manage the entire global recognition process. Our team handles the formal resealing of the Victorian grant or coordinates independent secondary applications, ensuring global assets are lawfully stabilised, liquidated, or transferred without costly international delays.

Complex estates need to be unwound carefully, or the tax consequences can be devastating. We work alongside accountants, valuers and tax specialists, where necessary, to ensure every asset is handled appropriately and the estate does not lose money to avoidable mistakes.

• Division 7A and trust account reconciliation. Director loan accounts and trust distributions that were never properly reconciled during the deceased’s lifetime do not disappear upon the deceased’s passing. Left unaddressed, the ATO can treat estate distributions as unfranked dividends under Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. We identify these exposures, untangle them, and ensure the estate is fully compliant before any distributions are made.

• Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) asset wind-downs. SMSFs, particularly those holding commercial real estate, require exact handling. We carry out Binding Death Benefit Nominations (BDBNs), manage the structural transfer or liquidation of fund assets, and ensure every step is compliant with legislation. Nothing is distributed until it is done right.