Apply for Probate in Brisbane

Filing a Brisbane probate application at the Supreme Court of Queensland

The Brisbane registry

Probate for a Queensland estate is granted by the Supreme Court of Queensland, whose Brisbane registry is in the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law at 415 George Street, Brisbane QLD 4000. Documents can be posted to PO Box 15167, City East QLD 4002. Unlike Victoria and South Australia, a Queensland grant application is still a paper file that is lodged at the registry or sent by post, so the physical set of documents has to be assembled correctly the first time.

The Queensland Law Reporter advertisement

Queensland is the only jurisdiction where the notice of an intention to apply is published in a law journal rather than on a court website. The notice is prepared in the form of the court-approved Form 103 and published in the Queensland Law Reporter, and the fee is $161.70. The QLR comes out every Friday and the cut-off for the next edition is the Monday before, so a Brisbane application has a weekly publishing rhythm that catches a lot of executors out. The 14 day notice period runs from the Friday the notice actually appears, not the day you submit it.

The copy to the Public Trustee

Once the notice has been published in the QLR, a copy has to be emailed to the Public Trustee of Queensland for their records. It is a small step that is easy to miss and that the registry will pick up. Our Queensland probate guide sets out the full order of events.

No inventory of assets in Queensland

Here is a genuine Queensland advantage: there is no requirement to file an Inventory of Assets and Liabilities with a Brisbane probate application. You still need the asset and liability detail to administer the estate, and to deal with banks and share registries, but it does not form part of the court file. That makes the Queensland application itself lighter than the equivalent in New South Wales, Victoria or South Australia.

Getting documents witnessed in Brisbane

The affidavits supporting a Brisbane application must be sworn or affirmed before an authorised witness — a lawyer, a Justice of the Peace, a commissioner for declarations or a notary public. Queensland has a large JP network, including volunteer JP signing sites in shopping centres, libraries and court houses around Brisbane, and our solicitors can also witness the documents for you.

How long a Brisbane grant takes

Allow at least 14 days for the QLR notice period, plus the wait for the next Friday edition, before the application can even be filed. After filing, a straightforward Brisbane grant commonly issues within around four to eight weeks. Requisitions are the main variable, and in Queensland they most often relate to the notice, the death certificate or the way the Will has been dealt with.

Brisbane property in the estate

Where the estate includes a Brisbane property, the dealing is lodged with Titles Queensland once the grant issues — a transmission application by death for a solely owned property or an interest held as tenants in common, or a request to record death where the property was held as joint tenants. A Queensland solicitor or conveyancer prepares and lodges the forms.

If there is no Will

If the deceased left no Will, the closest next of kin applies for letters of administration. The QLR notice, the Public Trustee copy and the Brisbane registry are all the same; the difference is who is entitled to apply and who inherits under the Queensland intestacy rules. See our Queensland letters of administration guide.

Where we act around Brisbane

We act for executors across greater Brisbane — the CBD and inner suburbs, the northside through Chermside, Aspley and North Lakes, the southside through Mount Gravatt, Sunnybank and Springwood, the western suburbs through Indooroopilly, Kenmore and Ipswich, and the bayside and Redlands — as well as Logan, Moreton Bay, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and regional Queensland.