Kiwilaw* - 'yield to principle, not to pressure'
Probate, wills, estate administration, reseal grants, transmission to executors
It’s more common than you might think for beneficiaries to die either before, or shortly after, the person whose estate they are meant to inherit from.
The law has clear rules about who receives what — but the rules change depending on whether there is a will, and on the exact timing of deaths.
[Read more…] about When Beneficiaries Die: Who Inherits?Have you been told you need High Court permission (probate or letters of administration) before you can access your loved one’s funds, because they had more than $15,000 in a New Zealand bank?
That rule has now changed.
Starting on 24 September 2025, banks and most other financial institutions are able to release up to $40,000 without requiring High Court paperwork such as probate or letters of administration.
It doesn’t matter whether your loved one died before or after 24 September 2025. The change is retrospective. It applies even if your loved one died in 2024, or 2005, or 1999.
[Read more…] about Uplifting funds without High Court paperwork – the $15,000 threshold has now changed to $40,000This page has links to Kiwilaw online interviews or online forms for clients to use, to provide the information we need in order to produce your documents.
If you have a link with this prefix, it will no longer work: https://autom.io/o/kiwilaw/.
After using Automio since 2018, we were notified on 4 July 2025 that it would be retired on 14 July 2025. On 10 July 2025 we were notified that it might continue a bit longer but it would not be supported after 14 July 2025. On 20 July 2025 it ceased, without further communication. On 28 July we were informed that it would not be reinstated. Although we were trying to transition to a new platform, we had not anticipated such sudden developments.
Replacement links will be shown here, only when we are confident that we can process the documents promptly after you use these links. These may be interim solutions, or they may be long-term replacement bots.
Thank you for your patience.
Cheryl Simes – Kiwilaw
| Application for probate (valid will, executor/s available) | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/E2v0zW4o/probate-application |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by surviving spouse or de facto partner of deceased | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by executor/administrator of estate of deceased’s spouse/de facto partner – spouse/partner survived the deceased and has since died | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by child of deceased | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by child of predeceased child of deceased | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by parent of deceased | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by sibling of deceased | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration (no valid will) – by child of predeceased sibling of deceased | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/data-for-loa-application/ |
| Application for letters of administration with will annexed (valid will, no executor) | Not yet available |
| Letter from executor/s to law firm, to uplift original will | Not yet available |
| Disclaimer by person who is entitled to inherit and does not want to | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/m2rgDDkx/deed-of-disclaimer |
| Deed of renunciation (by executor named in will who does not want to apply for probate) | Not yet available |
| Letter to Births Deaths Marriages to request a paternity search (do it yourself) | Not yet available |
| Instructions to Kiwilaw to obtain paternity search on your behalf (for $60 extra) | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/zexDnJeq/paternity-search-by-kiwilaw |
| Will enquiry (through NZLS) – do it yourself, provide your own contact details, do not mention Kiwilaw | https://www.lawsociety.org.nz/news/publications/advertise-with-the-new-zealand-law-society-te-kahui-ture-o-aotearoa/will-notices/ |
| Will enquiry (through NZLS) – instruct Kiwilaw to do it for you and provide Kiwilaw’s contact details (for $60 extra) | Not yet available |
| Caveat (to High Court) against the making of a grant of administration | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/gkXzD7e5/caveat-deceased-estate-nz |
| Withdrawal of caveat (High Court) | Not yet available |
| Transmission by survivorship (joint tenancy or trustees – includes trustee resolution if required) | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/beJwOZ2Z/transmission-by-survivorship-new-zealand |
| Transmission to executor/administrator | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/m4jXE52P/transmission-to-executoradministrator |
| Combined transmissions – survivorship and executor/administrator – used where land is still shown as a joint tenancy and both owners have died, | Not yet available |
| Transfer to beneficiaries of estate/will – information from transferor/s (must first have probate or letters of administration) | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/land-transfer-information-from-transferor/ |
| Transfer to beneficiaries of estate/will – information from transferee/s (must first have probate or letters of administration) | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/transfer-info-from-transferee-beneficiary/ |
| Update land title after death of trustee (of family trust) | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/beJwOZ2Z/transmission-by-survivorship-new-zealand |
| Transfer inter vivos (no one has died) from current owner to themselves and somebody else as joint tenants (or as tenants in common) | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/transfer-to-co-owner/ |
| Discharge mortgage – no monies owing | Not yet available |
| Apply to lapse caveat (land) – no monies owing | Not yet available |
| Check title – title search and Kiwilaw analysis of ownership ($39) | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/check-will-or-title/ |
| Online will | https://au.bot.joseflegal.com/X48pRO4V/will-new-zealand |
| Request Kiwilaw’s blank will forms ($15) | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/order-free-will/ |
| Check your current will ($39) | https://kiwilaw.co.nz/check-will-or-title/ |
Updated 13 August 2025
When someone who is a trustee of a family trust dies, the legal ownership of any trust property — such as land or a house — needs to be updated.
This post explains what steps you need to take about (a) recording the trustee’s death and, perhaps, appointing a replacement trustee, and (b) updating the land title.
This post applies to New Zealand ‘family trusts’ established by trust deeds. It does not apply to ‘whānau trusts’ established by an order of the Māori Land Court.
[Read more…] about When a Trustee Dies: How to Update Land Ownership for a Family Trust“Make a will!” they say. Yeah, yeah — add it to the list.
But sometimes, it’s actually urgent.
How do you know when that is?
It’s not just because you’re going overseas, about to have heart surgery, or have been diagnosed with cancer.
[Read more…] about How do you know when is it really urgent to make a (new) will?
Act now to avoid the early-2025 increase. Transmission by survivorship? – do it now! Transmission to executor or estate administrator? – do it now! Put the land into the names of the beneficiaries? – find out more…. Repaid the mortgage but it’s still on the title? – get it discharged now!
It will cost $124 (instead of the current $90), to register a transmission by survivorship, transmission to executor/s or administrator/s, mortgage discharge, or transfer (to beneficiaries or to third party).
Those are the different transactions needed when someone dies and they own a house, flat, or other real estate.
The exact date of the increase is not yet known. It will be early 2025. UPDATE (18 Dec) – now announced – 3 February 2025.
There’s more info on the Land Information New Zealand website here: https://www.linz.govt.nz/products-services/landonline/landonline-fees-and-charges
[Read more…] about Land-registration fees to jump from $90 to $124 – act now to avoid the increase!!
Currently it’s $200.
This change has just been announced.
[Read more…] about High Court filing fee for probate jumps from $200 to $260 – on 1 July 2024 – pay now and avoid the increase!Yes, they trusted you, they appointed you as their attorney, to manage their property, their money, their bank accounts.
However, that has now stopped. You cannot lawfully continue to operate their bank account or make other decisions about their property.
[Read more…] about When their heart stopped, so did their EPA (enduring power of attorney).I want to set the record straight, as a pākehā lawyer who is passionately committed to upholding the rule of law and who does not have the time actively to learn te reo Māori or study the details of what went wrong in the past.
[Read more…] about What’s going on with the Treaty? And this Māori stuff?Curiosity – and opportunity – combined. I decided to try ChatGPT.
I asked, ‘Explain who will inherit in New Zealand if someone dies without a will, with a surviving spouse, and with 3 children, and if they leave more than $500,000 in property.’
See below – screenshot of the answers.
Spoiler alert – Kiwilaw does it better, using human brains.
[Read more…] about ChatGPT – don’t trust it (yet) – its legal analysis is wrong