Northern Territory Probate Forms: What Executors Need Before Filing

Downloading the blank forms from the NT Supreme Court website is the easy part. The hard part is knowing how to complete them, in what order, under what physical and formatting constraints, and what happens when the court finds a problem. The NT probate registry does not offer advisory services — staff are explicitly prohibited from helping applicants fill in forms or reviewing documents before filing. Whatever errors you make go to the registry, and the registry issues a formal Requisition.

A Requisition halts your application. You must draft an additional affidavit addressing the error, have it witnessed, and resubmit — adding weeks to the process and considerable stress when beneficiaries are already asking why the estate is taking so long.

This guide covers every form in the NT probate suite, the physical handling requirements, and the most common triggers for Requisitions.

The Core Forms

All forms are available from the NT Supreme Court website. They are provided as RTF files to be downloaded and customised — not fillable PDFs. You edit the RTF in a word processor, delete inapplicable text cleanly (without altering the document's overall structure), and then produce the final version for printing.

Form 88B — Notice of Intended Application

This is the first document filed. You submit it by email to the Probate Officer ([email protected]), who publishes it on the Supreme Court website. You cannot file the main application until 14 clear days have elapsed from the publication date.

Form 88B identifies the applicant, the deceased, the Will being relied upon, and the nature of the proposed grant. Mistakes here — wrong date of death, wrong address, mismatch with the death certificate — will require a corrected notice and restart the 14-day waiting period.

Form 88A — Application for Grant of Representation

The primary application document. It must be customised to reflect the specific type of grant being sought (probate for Will-holders, letters of administration for intestate estates) and must accurately describe the estate and the applicant's entitlement. Brackets and inapplicable wording must be cleanly deleted, not left in the document.

Form 88G — Affidavit of Death

A sworn statement confirming the death and the authenticity of the death certificate. The original death certificate (front and back) must be physically annexed to this affidavit before it is sworn before the authorised witness. If only the front page of the certificate is annexed, the affidavit is defective.

Form 88H — Affidavit of Executor

The executor's sworn statement confirming their identity, their appointment under the Will, and the estate's gross asset value. The gross value figure in this document must match the detailed inventory in Form 88T exactly. Any discrepancy between the two documents produces a Requisition.

Form 88T — Affidavit of Assets and Liabilities

The detailed estate inventory. This is typically the most time-consuming form to complete accurately. Values must be as at the date of death, not current market value. For each asset:

• Real estate: obtain a formal valuation or use the last council rates notice as a proxy, but note the court may request clarification for high-value properties
• Bank accounts: request date-of-death balances directly from each institution
• Share portfolios: use the closing price on the date of death
• Superannuation payable to the estate: confirm with the fund trustee

Liabilities (outstanding debts, mortgages, credit cards) are listed separately. The net value is the gross less the liabilities.

Affidavit of Identity (Self-Represented Applicants)

If you are filing without a solicitor, the NT Supreme Court additionally requires an Affidavit of Identity — a sworn statement confirming who you are, with supporting identification documents annexed. This requirement surprises many DIY applicants who have never seen it mentioned in general probate guides.

How to Swear Affidavits in the NT

Every affidavit must be sworn (or affirmed) before an authorised witness — a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Oaths, or solicitor. Witnessing must take place in person; the witness must be physically present when you sign.

The physical process:

1. Print each affidavit single-sided on A4 paper.
2. Do not sign the document before meeting the witness.
3. Bring the unsigned documents plus any annexures (e.g., death certificate for Form 88G) to the witnessing appointment.
4. The witness watches you sign each page, then signs and dates the jurat (the witnessing clause at the end).

If any document is signed before witnessing, it is defective and must be re-sworn from scratch.

The Will Handling Trap

This is the most widely misunderstood rule in the entire NT probate process, and it catches a disproportionate number of DIY applicants.

The original Will must be filed electronically (scanned and emailed to the registry). However, the Will's physical condition is examined before any grant is issued. If the court identifies evidence that the staples have been removed — rust marks from old staples, holes from missing staples, paperclip indentations on the cover — it treats this as a possible sign of tampering. The court will halt the application and demand an Affidavit of Plight and Condition, a separately sworn document explaining exactly how and when any physical changes to the Will occurred.

If the changes are innocent (staples removed during an earlier photocopy session years ago), the Affidavit of Plight and Condition allows you to explain this. But it adds a document, a witnessing appointment, and weeks to the timeline.

The practical solution: use a flatbed scanner or photograph each page while the Will remains fully intact. Never run the original through a sheet-fed scanner.

What a Requisition Means

A Requisition is a formal notice issued by the court registry identifying a defect in your filed application. It is not a rejection — your application remains in the queue. But you cannot proceed until the defect is resolved.

Common Requisition triggers include:

• Documents merged into a single PDF instead of filed as individual files
• PDFs named incorrectly (the registry checks file names against a strict naming convention)
• Gross asset values in 88H not matching the 88T total
• Death certificate annexure missing the reverse side
• Application filed before the 14-day notice period has expired
• Original Will showing signs of physical interference without a Plight and Condition affidavit

Resolving a Requisition requires drafting an Affidavit for Probate or Administration addressing the specific issue, having it witnessed, and resubmitting by email. Each round typically takes two to four additional weeks.

After the Grant

Once the application is accepted, the registry will email you. The sealed Grant of Probate is not sent electronically — you or an authorised representative must collect the physical sealed document from the Civil Registry at the Supreme Court in Darwin.

If you need the Grant recognised in other states or territories, you will need certified copies. Each page costs approximately $7.25 for the first page and $1.45 per additional page.

The Northern Territory Probate Process Guide includes annotated examples of correctly completed NT forms, a pre-submission checklist covering every common Requisition trigger, and plain-English instructions for each affidavit — so your application moves through the registry without unnecessary delay.

See more Northern Territory guides →