Reseal of Probate in Australia(NSW) ( obtained UK Probate)

WanderingStar101

Hello - has anyone experience of this and able to recommend the Australian NSW law firm you used?
Also,as part of the process,did the Australian lawyer become Power of Attorney from your Executor? 
If so,do you know why they need to do this?
This has been suggested and I'm a little concerned.
Thanks in advance.

poseidon1

WanderingStar101 said:

Hello - has anyone experience of this and able to recommend the Australian NSW law firm you used?
Also,as part of the process,did the Australian lawyer become Power of Attorney from your Executor? 
If so,do you know why they need to do this?
This has been suggested and I'm a little concerned.
Thanks in advance.

Can't suggest a law firm, but you may find the thread below of specific interest.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6558926/resealing-the-grant-of-probate#latest

Note the Australian law firm fee quote amount mentioned in the thread,  as a possible point of  comparison when you make your enquires. 

ThriftisGood

We, the executors, have just sucessfully resealed my late father's certificate of probate in the Victorian Court Australia. This was to facilitate administration of some shares that he held and that the value of which exceeded Au$50,000 (c.£25,000) (but not greatly exceeding).
Computershare, recommended an Australian solicitor, but after researching the process and seeing it is now online, we decided to have a go ourselves. I understand that other Australian states are similar, but the online process might differ slightly as will other commonwealth countries.
For Victoria State, lookup 'RedCrest Probate' online.
You need to:
- Register (no cost).
- Advertise the court application (About £18, UK cards accepted)
- Complete an affidavit template online which you then print out and take to a Notary Public (research online, they will charge £160-£180).
- The affidavit includes 2 exhibits. 1) A UK court sealed copy of the probate certificate (but not the will attached). You can order these direct from the court for £3 each, even with your UK probate submission, or pay an agent much more for faster service. 2) An inventory of the deceased assets. This has to be very detailed. I included everything listed in the IHT400 plus daughter IHT forms with all the detail. Values in £ but stated in Au$ with exchange rates at date of death, all addresses of organisations (I had to add by amendment later), bank account numbers with sort codes. If you are not sure they want it, include it anyway.
- Scan the signed and sealed affidavit and exhibits without unbinding them and upload in accordance with the RedCrest online instructions.
- Send off the bound affidavit to the court PO Box in Melbourne. Include in the package, but not bound to it, a copy of a court sealed copy of the will. (We did something wrong here, and I think we should have included a certified photocopy of the will. You could prepare this with the Notary additionally.)
- The fee is based on the Australian asset value and for us was zero.
- We used Post Office tracked for delivery; cost about £11. It is difficult to courier to a PO Box and you cannot get a signature from a PO Box. It took about a week, but it seems the flight to Melbourne goes Saturday night, so bear that in mind.
- The court process is not well defined and although they will answer (process) questions, they are not good at giving detailed answers. We were asked for more information which required a second visit to the Notary. We did ask for a quote for guidance consultancy from a Australian solicitor after the request for more info from the court, but decided to have another go alone with the Notary.

Please remember this is just our experience and we have no intention to prejudice how you may choose to administer your own individual situation.

poseidon1

ThriftisGood said:

We, the executors, have just sucessfully resealed my late father's certificate of probate in the Victorian Court Australia. This was to facilitate administration of some shares that he held and that the value of which exceeded Au$50,000 (c.£25,000) (but not greatly exceeding).
Computershare, recommended an Australian solicitor, but after researching the process and seeing it is now online, we decided to have a go ourselves. I understand that other Australian states are similar, but the online process might differ slightly as will other commonwealth countries.
For Victoria State, lookup 'RedCrest Probate' online.
You need to:
- Register (no cost).
- Advertise the court application (About £18, UK cards accepted)
- Complete an affidavit template online which you then print out and take to a Notary Public (research online, they will charge £160-£180).
- The affidavit includes 2 exhibits. 1) A UK court sealed copy of the probate certificate (but not the will attached). You can order these direct from the court for £3 each, even with your UK probate submission, or pay an agent much more for faster service. 2) An inventory of the deceased assets. This has to be very detailed. I included everything listed in the IHT400 plus daughter IHT forms with all the detail. Values in £ but stated in Au$ with exchange rates at date of death, all addresses of organisations (I had to add by amendment later), bank account numbers with sort codes. If you are not sure they want it, include it anyway.
- Scan the signed and sealed affidavit and exhibits without unbinding them and upload in accordance with the RedCrest online instructions.
- Send off the bound affidavit to the court PO Box in Melbourne. Include in the package, but not bound to it, a copy of a court sealed copy of the will. (We did something wrong here, and I think we should have included a certified photocopy of the will. You could prepare this with the Notary additionally.)
- The fee is based on the Australian asset value and for us was zero.
- We used Post Office tracked for delivery; cost about £11. It is difficult to courier to a PO Box and you cannot get a signature from a PO Box. It took about a week, but it seems the flight to Melbourne goes Saturday night, so bear that in mind.
- The court process is not well defined and although they will answer (process) questions, they are not good at giving detailed answers. We were asked for more information which required a second visit to the Notary. We did ask for a quote for guidance consultancy from a Australian solicitor after the request for more info from the court, but decided to have another go alone with the Notary.

Please remember this is just our experience and we have no intention to prejudice how you may choose to administer your own individual situation.

A helpful post which I have book marked for future reference.

Resealing Australian probate seems to arise from time to time, and judging from your post it is  quite a tedious and time consuming matter to progress on a DIY basis. Depending on the value of the Australian asset ( shares in Commonwealth Bank of Australia seems to be common), I suspect most posters will default to using an Australian lawyer.