Small estates: skipping probate

Updated 20 August 2026 · 7 minute read

If the estate is modest — no solely-owned real estate, balances under the banks' thresholds — you may never need a court at all. This is the guide to the informal route: what institutions accept instead of probate, and the few traps in it.

The informal route, institution by institution

• Banks — release below threshold ($100,000 at the big four) with certified documents and an indemnity form. Full table
• Share registries — Computershare to $25,000 and MUFG to $15,000 per holding via small-estate indemnity forms
• Super funds — pay dependants directly; probate is rarely requested unless the benefit goes to the estate. How claims work
• Aged care providers — refund the accommodation deposit (RAD) to the estate; below ~$60,000 many providers accept an indemnity, larger RADs commonly trigger a probate request
• Vehicles — state registries transfer to a beneficiary or buyer with the death certificate and their own form; no grant for ordinary cars
• Refunds, utilities, final pay — released informally on certified documents almost everywhere

The paperwork of the informal route

You'll assemble the same small kit repeatedly: certified death certificate, certified will (or next-of-kin evidence), certified ID, plus each institution's own release/indemnity form — in which the person receiving funds promises to repay if someone with a better claim appears. That promise is real: don't sign indemnities casually in a family with any tension.

State small-estate schemes

Most states also have formal shortcuts: registrar assistance for small estates in Victoria, elections to administer by Public Trustees (Tasmania's costs $150.92), and Public Trustee administration of modest estates in SA and the NT. These suit estates with no willing family administrator — the trade-off is the trustee's fees.

When waiting beats filing

Some 'assets' resolve themselves: refunds arrive, final wages are paid to the estate, small policies pay out on documents alone. If nothing forces a grant — no property, no over-threshold account — many families simply administer informally over a few weeks. The one discipline that matters: keep every receipt and a simple ledger, exactly as a formal executor would. The checklist works for informal administrators too.