What is “probate”?
How do I apply for probate?
Where do I file an application for probate?
Do I need a lawyer to apply for probate?
What is “probate”?
After a person has died the executor (the person appointed in the dead person’s Will, whose role is to control and distribute assets according to the Will) of the person’s Will must apply to the High Court for “probate” This is a court order recognising the Will as authentic and giving the executor the legal authority to deal with the dead person’s estate and distribute their property according to the Will.
How do I apply for probate?
If you are the executor you must apply in writing to the High Court for probate to be granted in your favour. Usually you apply through a lawyer.
Unless someone else is contesting the Will, you apply “ex parte”, which means you don’t have to notify anyone else that you are applying. This is called an application for “probate in common form”, in contrast to an application for “probate in solemn form”, which is where someone is contesting the Will, and you have to inform them.
If you use a lawyer, they must certify that the application is correct. As well as the application form and application fee, you must also file the following documents with the Registrar of the High Court :
- The Will (the original, not a copy)
- An affidavit (a statement sworn before a lawyer) by you that
- contains evidence of the death (preferably a sworn statement by you that you attended the funeral or by another person who attended the funeral, or a death certificate)
- contains evidence of where the deceased was living when he or she died
- states that you believe that the Will is the deceased’s last Will.
Where do I file an application for probate?
You must apply to the High Court registry nearest to where the dead person was living when they died or, if they weren’t living in New Zealand, at the registry nearest to the home of the deceased.
Do I need a lawyer to apply for probate?
Probate is usually arranged through a lawyer because all the documents must be set out in a specific way according to the laws of probate.