How to obtain a ‘grant of administration’ – usually ‘probate’ – for $690 (or a bit more, or a bit less)

No one can uplift your loved one’s savings (if more than $15,000) unless they have the High Court’s written permission to administer your loved one’s estate. It’s like a ‘special permission’ note, but it has a fancy legal name – a ‘grant of administration‘. 

This is also usually needed if your loved one owned land.

This ‘grant of administration’ is called ‘probate’ if there’s a will, or ‘letters of administration’ if there’s no valid will or the person applying isn’t the ‘executor’.

If you are the person who can apply for this (probate or letters of administration), Kiwilaw can help!

Our fee for probate is usually $490 (including GST).  You also pay the High Court fee yourself, which is $200 (but might be waived for financial hardship).  So, it’s usually a total of $690.

Our fees are lower than other law firms because we use tech to save time. It’s all reviewed and supervised by the same lawyer (Cheryl Simes) who researched and wrote the ‘bots’ for this.

‘Letters of administration’ cost a bit more – usually $690  (plus the $200 High Court fee, unless it is waived for financial hardship). Sometimes it’s $590. Sometimes it’s more. It depends on the legal requirements in your case. (We will let you know beforehand.)

 

Clients have told us they found it ’empowering’ to do this themselves instead of being dependent on a solicitor.

 

“I was dreading doing the probate and you really made the whole thing SO EASY… it was such a relief for which I will always be grateful…’“— Auckland client, Dec 2019 (photo – stock image)

You make the application by sending paperwork to the High Court.

You don’t have to turn up to court in person.

Kiwilaw prepares the paperwork for you.

The secret of Kiwilaw’s low fees is the advanced document-automation software that Kiwilaw uses. The software’s ‘interview’ asks you the questions and automatically prepares draft documents. That saves time that would otherwise add to the costs.

Especially for probate, it usually takes Kiwilaw only a few minutes to do the legal work and final editing.  That’s because of the magic software.  (However, we ask for 7 days. We have to balance this with other work, plus personal commitments.)

The other time-saver is the work that you do yourself once Kiwilaw couriers the documents to you.

You follow the detailed instructions provided.

You arrange to swear or affirm the affidavit with a JP, solicitor, or court registrar.

You sign and copy and send everything to the High Court.

In short, you are Kiwilaw’s secretarial assistant. You do not pay for a legal secretary’s time.

The High Court checks the paperwork and processes the application..

If everything is in order, you receive the grant of administration in the mail.  As of May 2022, the High Court processing time was about 8 weeks. Previously it was about 3-4 weeks. By November 2022 the delay had reached 10 weeks, and currently (January 2023) it seems still to be at about that level.

(If – unusually – an issue arises, Kiwilaw will help you fix it, usually for no extra charge.)

Once probate is granted (or letters of administration), it’s your choice:

• do all the actual estate-administration work yourself
• use other professionals to do it (such as your loved one’s solicitor, or a different solicitor, or a trustee company or accountant)
• get some advice and delegate specific tasks, while doing other aspects yourself.

See estate administration.