If you are appointed by a will as the executor or appointed as the administrator of a deceased estate dealing with land, terminology used by your solicitor may be unfamiliar.
What’s a Transmission Application?
If the deceased left a Will, you will need to apply for a grant of probate from Supreme Court of NSW. A grant of probate acknowledges the validity of the deceased’s Will and authorises the executor to administer the estate.
If there is no Will, the next of kin of the deceased needs to apply for Letters of Administration. This document issued by the Supreme Court of NSW authorizes the next of kin (known as the “Administrator”) to administer the estate according to intestacy rules.
Once the executor/administrator has obtained Probate or Letters of Administration, the land can be dealt with.
Land in NSW can be held by a person three ways:
- as an individual
- jointly with another person, and
- as tenants in common with one or more persons.
All these holdings are dealt with separately on death.
Transmission to the executor
If the deceased did not leave the land to a beneficiary in his/her Will, the land must be transmitted to the executor by way of a Transmission Application to the executor and registered with NSW Land Registry Services via an electronic lodgement network operator (ELNO) such as the PEXA platform. Registering the Transmission Application enables the executor to sell the land. Once sold, the funds of the estate will then be distributed to the beneficiaries.
Transmission to a beneficiary
If the deceased left a property to a beneficiary in his/her Will, it will be transferred to the beneficiary by way of a Transmission Application to Beneficiary. Upon the payment of a $50.00 stamp duty fee and registration fees of the Transmission Application to Beneficiary with NSW Land Registry Services via the PEXA platform, the land will be transmitted into the name of the beneficiary.
What’s a Notice of Death?
If the land was held by the deceased jointly with another person, the surviving landowner will become the registered proprietor. Registering a Notice of Death form with evidence of the death certificate of the deceased with NSW Land Registry Services via an ELNO transfers the land to the surviving joint tenant.
What now?
Contact us for help in preparing and lodging an application for a grant of probate. We have the skills and experience to prepare and lodge Transmission Applications in NSW. We will help you avoid the difficulties accompanying the role of Executor or Administrator.
