Reseal probate

Fuse99

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone may have experience of this or at least be able to point me in the right direction. My father passed away about a year ago and we’ve recently identified that he held some shares in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

 

My mother has probate and contacted the company that holds the share registration to enquire how we would go about getting the shares transferred to her. The response she got back was that due to the value of the holding they require Probate / Letter of Administration to be resealed in a State of Australia prior to any transactions on the estate’s holding. They’ve recommended this be granted in New South Wales as this is where the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is registered.

 

They’ve then requested the following:

 

·         An original certified copy of the Re-Seal Probate through Australia Court. Please note that the certification is required to be an original signature. Photocopies of the certification signature are not accepted.

·         A Section 1071B statement completed, signed by the appointed executor(s) and witnessed if the Reseal-Probate or Letters of Administration have been granted in a State or Territory other than where the security are registered;

·         A Standard Transfer form completed, signed by the appointed executor(s) and beneficiary.

 

My mother’s getting stressed out by it all, she’s managed to deal with everything else to do with the estate up to this point but I think this one is the final straw with it involving dealing with something in another country.

 

I’m a little out of my comfort zone with knowing exactly what I need to do next to move this along. I presume the first step is trying to get the reseal probate sorted, I’m assuming this needs to be via a formally appointed solicitor? Any ideas how we would go about this? Are there UK solicitors we can turn to that will sort all this out on our behalf, or do I need to somehow try and appoint someone in Australia?

 

Any help gratefully received!

SeniorSam

This site         https://www.iwcprobateservices.co.uk/resealing-probate-in-australia/#:~:text=In order to reseal an,death certificate and Executors ID.

may help you. may I suggest that you initially call them to ascertain the costs involved.

There are several sites that help in these matters

Keep_pedalling

Dealing with foreign assets can be a real pain. I would recommend she sells them rather than transfer, otherwise you will have to go though it all again on her death or if she needs the cash later on, she will have a equally difficult problem selling them.

SeniorSam

I'm sure she would wish to do that but they require Probate / Letter of Administration to be resealed in a State of Australia prior to any transactions on the estate’s holding.

Keep_pedalling

SeniorSam said:

I'm sure she would wish to do that but they require Probate / Letter of Administration to be resealed in a State of Australia prior to any transactions on the estate’s holding.

it is equally difficult whether selling or transferring, but selling avoids having to do it all again in the future.

Fuse99

Thank you for your responses, I've contacted IWC today and provided some information so they can let me know what the likely costs are going to be. I was struggling to find where to turn with this so thanks for pointing me in the right direction. 

We may well look to sell the shares rather than transfer, but I'm conscious of potential capital gains tax so it may need to be spread over a couple of fiscal years. 

Keep_pedalling

Fuse99 said:

Thank you for your responses, I've contacted IWC today and provided some information so they can let me know what the likely costs are going to be. I was struggling to find where to turn with this so thanks for pointing me in the right direction. 

We may well look to sell the shares rather than transfer, but I'm conscious of potential capital gains tax so it may need to be spread over a couple of fiscal years. 

CGT would only apply if there was a significant gain between the date of death and the date of sale which looking at the current price is highly unlikely. Any capital gains achieved by the deceased shareholder is not counted.