Letters of Administration: What the Tax Agent Does

Letters of administration are the Supreme Court order appointing an administrator when no executor is acting. Your practice checks that appointment before accepting estate instructions and recording ATO authority. Before the grant, help the family collect records and address limited tax matters.

What the Practice Can and Cannot Do Before the Grant Issues

Before the grant, separate paperwork collection from permission to act for the estate. A son who brings you the death certificate is a family contact until his authority is established. Record who requests help and the work you have agreed to perform.

There are three separate jobs that can move before the grant.

• Gather paperwork the family can lawfully supply, including statements already held and records from your existing client file.
• Help with the date of death return. A person managing the deceased’s tax affairs can lodge after notifying the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and being entered on its records. This does not give your practice online access.
• Help the family make a limited enquiry to the ATO about the deceased person’s own record. The ATO decides what information it can release to someone without a grant.

The deceased’s former agent authority ends at death. Do not use an existing agent link as permission to access the deceased’s records. The ATO’s deceased estates guidance explains the distinction between help and authorised access.

Banks and share registries can require a grant before releasing estate assets. Land held solely or as tenants in common can also require grant evidence. A small bank balance might be released under the institution’s own requirements. Record the evidence it accepts and any indemnity required.

Jointly owned assets need a separate ownership check. Avoid promising when money or property will be available.

Letters of administration with the will annexed apply when a valid will exists but no executor can or will act. The administrator administers the estate under that will. Where a named executor is acting, use the grant of probate route.

A limited grant restricts authority by purpose, property or duration. A grant de bonis non appoints a replacement to deal with assets left unadministered, for example after the previous administrator dies. Read the actual limits before accepting instructions. The Supreme Court’s explanation of special grants describes these categories.

Who the Court Appoints When There is No Will

On intestacy, the court appoints an administrator through the jurisdiction’s entitlement rules. A surviving spouse or qualifying de facto partner generally has priority. Children and other next of kin follow where the applicable law gives them an entitlement.

The NSW Supreme Court’s administration guidance describes spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents and then aunts and uncles. It also explains when descendants of a deceased relative take their place. Children from another relationship can change the result when a spouse survives. Do not apply this outline as a national distribution rule.

Two adult children entitled in the same category can apply jointly. More than one eligible spouse can also apply together. A sole applicant can need consent or notice to other entitled people. Who can apply, who inherits and what consent is required are questions for the estate’s lawyer.

For your file, a grant of letters of administration on intestacy means the appointed administrator signs in that capacity. If two administrators are named, verify both identities and record both appointments. Agree who communicates with the practice and how instructions are approved. A convenient family contact does not acquire the other administrator’s powers.

Consider a hypothetical estate with a solely owned house and a share portfolio. The deceased leaves no will and has two adult children. One child contacts your practice first. You collect the available property and investment records, but record the applicant separately from the administrator ultimately named in the sealed grant.

Which Supreme Court Issues the Grant in Each State and Territory

The relevant Supreme Court’s probate registry issues the grant. Asset location can require a further grant, reseal or registration elsewhere. Let the estate’s lawyer settle that question before treating one order as sufficient for every asset.

Jurisdiction and registry	Filing service or channel	Pre-filing notice position
NSW Supreme Court Probate Registry	NSW Online Registry for most uncontested grants	Publish the notice through the Online Registry at least 14 days before filing.
Supreme Court of Victoria Probate Office	RedCrest-Probate	Publish the online advertisement at least 15 days before applying.
Queensland Supreme Court registries	Online Services Portal for legal practitioners. Self-represented applicants file in person or by post.	Advertise in the Queensland Law Reporter and wait 14 days. Also serve the Public Trustee and wait at least 7 days after receipt. Both requirements apply.
WA Supreme Court Probate Registry	In person or by post. The Probate Wizard helps prepare probate applications.	The court’s standard published filing steps contain no routine advertisement waiting period. Case-specific notices and consents require separate attention.
SA Supreme Court Probate Registry	CourtSA for all probate lodgments	The published ordinary application steps contain no general notice-of-intention advertising period. Case-specific consents, notices or citations remain separate.
Supreme Court of Tasmania Probate Registry	Registry application forms. Notices appear on the court website.	Publish the notice on the court website and wait at least 14 days before filing.
ACT Supreme Court Probate Registry	Court’s online Probate Notice smart form for notices. Lodge the grant application with the registry.	Publish the notice on the court website at least 14 days, and no more than 3 months, before filing.
NT Supreme Court Probate Registry	Email filing of signed forms and affidavits	Publish the notice on the court website for 14 days before filing.

These are application-notice periods, not a promise that the court will issue the grant when they end. A later notice about distribution has a different job.

NSW’s online service generates the summons and supporting affidavits from the application details. Victoria’s RedCrest-Probate generates the affidavit and inventory of assets and liabilities. Families need accurate asset and debt information, relationship evidence and death documentation for the applicable route.

Queensland uses Form 102 and Form 109 for intestacy, with a certified death certificate and the publication-and-service affidavit. Applications with a will use different forms and include the original will. The Queensland practitioner filing guidance distinguishes portal filing from personal applications.

Supply factual records already held by your practice. Send affidavit drafting and questions about entitlement to the lawyer. Download legal application forms from the relevant court.

Cost and Timing the Family Will Ask About

Court fees depend on the registry and sometimes the estate’s gross value. Use the applicable schedule on the day the application is lodged. Record the amount in the family’s private estimate instead of treating an article figure as the payable fee.

Jurisdiction	What determines the court fee
NSW fee schedule	Sworn gross-value bands for uncontested probate, administration and reseal applications. A separate online notice fee applies.
Victoria Probate Office fees	Estate-value bands and the particular service requested.
Queensland Supreme Court fees	A listed application fee for probate or letters of administration. Advertising is separate.
WA probate fees	A listed grant application fee, with separate copy and certification charges.
SA probate fees	Gross estate-value bands, with separate fees for some later applications and copies.
Tasmania probate fees	Gross value of the estate in Tasmania. Assessment and requisition charges are also listed.
ACT Supreme Court fees	Gross estate-value bands for the probate application.
NT probate information	The court lists an originating filing fee and search fee for the application.

The family’s total can also include legal fees, advertising, death certificates, valuations and court-certified copies. Ask the lawyer’s estimate to distinguish the grant application from ongoing estate administration.

Grant timing includes document collection, any notice period and the registry’s examination queue. A requisition is the registry’s request to fix missing or defective evidence. Unsworn material, incomplete relationship evidence or an unanswered requisition can delay the grant.

Give the family an event-based update. Record whether the notice is published, the application is filed or a requisition remains open. Explain that the next tax-authority step follows the issued grant. Use the registry’s published processing information for an estimate and agree when your practice will next check progress.

Documents to Collect From the Administrator at Onboarding

Collect the sealed grant and identify the person it appoints before accepting estate instructions. Put appointment evidence beside the signed engagement letter so another staff member can see who authorised the work.

Use one document request with the items your practice still needs.

• The issued sealed grant, including attachments and any restrictions.
• The death certificate and evidence explaining a name difference.
• The administrator’s identity evidence through your accepted verification method. Where certified identification is used, follow the certified copy of ID requirements.
• The deceased person’s TFN through your protected collection channel. Collect the estate’s own identifier separately when one exists.
• The administrator’s contact details, signed authority and instructions about communication with other appointed administrators.
• Asset and debt records, previous tax records and the lawyer’s contact details with permission to liaise.

The Tax Practitioners Board’s client-verification guidance separates identity from representative authority. Record the check, its method and who performed it. The guidance does not require or recommend retaining ID copies. Keep copies only where a separate requirement supports retention.

Labelled Sample Administration Grant

This fictional reading checklist identifies fields on an issued grant. It is not a court form or proposed legal order.

Field to locate	What your practice records
Issuing court and proceeding number	Which court issued the order and its reference
Deceased person’s identity	Match the estate to the death certificate and your client records
Grant type	Intestacy, with the will annexed or a special grant
Administrator or administrators	Every appointed person, matched to verified identity
Grant issue date and court seal	Evidence the order has issued. Verify a digital grant through the issuing court’s service where available.
Restrictions and attachments	Any limit on assets, purpose or duration and any attached will

An application, affidavit or draft grant describes what the applicant wants. It does not prove that the court has appointed them. Keep the issued order as the appointment evidence.

In the hypothetical house-and-shares estate, request the property title and ownership details, purchase records, improvement costs and any valuation obtained. Add shareholding statements, acquisition records and dividend statements. If the house is rented, include the lease, agent statements, expenses and the history of its use. Ask once for documents already held in your practice file.

For a business, add registrations, accounts, payroll records and details of who continues operations. A trust interest needs the deed, variations and trustee details. Appointment as estate administrator does not automatically appoint that person as trustee or company director. A testamentary trust created by a will also has a separate authority and tax record.

Record the Administrator’s ATO Authority

Record the court appointment and your practice’s separate authority to act in this order.

1. Check the issued grant against the administrator’s verified identity. Record every appointed administrator and any restriction.
2. Have the administrator notify the ATO of their appointment. Keep the confirmation with the grant evidence.
3. Obtain the administrator’s appointment of your practice. The agent can provide the declaration and add the deceased person through Online services for agents.
4. Confirm the required agent relationship before accessing the record. If it is missing, resolve the appointment or declaration with the ATO.

Keep the grant, signed authority and confirmation of the ATO relationship together. Distinguish the deceased individual’s record from the estate’s record. A visible relationship for one does not establish the other. If access fails, check that the appointment is recorded and the declaration concerns the correct taxpayer. Follow the ATO’s representative guidance.

Before handing the file to the tax team, confirm that the engagement names the appointed administrator and the relevant taxpayer. Record any limit in the grant. Assign unresolved documents to a staff member and identify which task they prevent.

The handover is ready when the appointment evidence matches the person giving instructions and the required agent relationship is confirmed. Send the collected records to the deceased estate tax return job for return periods, estate registration and lodgment work.

Handing the Estate Back and Closing the File

Close the engagement after the agreed tax work is settled or every remaining task has a named owner. Give the administrator a written record of lodged work, outstanding liabilities and any matter still awaiting the ATO.

An administrator can face personal liability if assets are distributed with notice of an ATO claim and insufficient estate assets remain. Settling a tax balance does not resolve every legal distribution question. Coordinate the proposed distribution with the estate’s lawyer and retain the tax advice given.

Sample Handover Note

For the hypothetical house-and-shares estate, adapt this note to the actual file.

The agreed tax work is complete except for the estate assessment awaiting issue. You remain responsible for that assessment and payment from estate funds. Keep the tax provision intact until the liability is resolved.

The property and share records have been returned securely. The estate’s lawyer remains responsible for advice about distribution. Our engagement ends after the assessment follow-up and payment confirmation recorded in the engagement letter.

Replace that status with the actual remaining work before sending it. Confirm who receives further ATO correspondence, remove your practice’s agent relationship when the engagement ends and record the final handover. If another tax agent takes over, confirm their authority before securely transferring the permitted records.