Administration of the Estate

One of the final steps in Deceased Estates is the administration of the estate. When a deceased person has left a will, the executor(s) are responsible for administrating the estate.  The executor would only be able to administer the estate once they have a grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. As the executor, under Section 44 of the Probate and Administration Act (NSW) you have a duty to ensure that the property is distributed.  The steps of administering the estate are as follows: 

1. If you are executor of an estate, you have a duty to collect and protect the assets of the estate. These items may include any real or personal property, bank accounts and shares. 

2. Before any assets are distributed to the beneficiaries, the executor has a duty to ensure that all the debts of the deceased are paid. The debt may be for any loans taken out or unpaid tax. Debts need to be paid with the right assets of the estate and any priority debts, namely testamentary and administration expenses, should be paid first.

3. A ‘Notice of Intended distribution’ needs to be published before you distribute the estate to the beneficiaries. The Notice of Intended Distribution is published online and allows 30 days for creditors to make a claim to this estate. 

4. Once the first three duties have been satisfied, you will then be able to distribute the estate to the beneficiaries. 

If the estate is to be held for other beneficiaries, that the executor must protect the value of the estate until such time as they are given to the designated beneficiaries. It is important that the property must be safely secured, insured and the estate defended from any legal challenge or contest. 

Here at Green & Associates Solicitors, we can assist you with you in understanding your duties, rights and responsibilities as an executor or administrator, so that the estate can be administered without any contest. 

Contact us on (02) 8080 7585 for a free consultation.

Green & Associates Solicitors Experience and Success 

• We have successfully dealt with all aspects of estate planning, from obtaining probate through to final administration of estate;
• We have acted for executors and trustees on behalf of estates for the sale of property, from residential homes through to large opal mines;
• We have acted for executors and trustees on behalf of estates for the acquisition of property, including agricultural investment businesses with land;
• We have prepared and secured enduring powers of attorney for property dealings on behalf of clients whilst overseas and before they lose capacity;
• We handle all estate and succession planning, from Wills and powers of attorney through to succession planning for carrying on of business;
• We deal with family provisions claims, other contests to Wills and estate disputes, including applications for removal and replacement of trustees

We also provide in-house advice to companies on a range of matters, including:

• employment-law issues (i.e. enforcing or dispute a restraint of trade clause for previous or new employees);
• compliance and regulatory issues (i.e. licencing and underquoting breaches)
• criminal matters;
• property matters;
• defamation proceedings; and
• all types of commercial matters (i.e. drafting shareholder agreements).