NT Probate Guide vs the Public Trustee: Which Is Right for Your Estate?

For a straightforward, uncontested Northern Territory estate with a valid will, a step-by-step probate guide is the right choice — and it saves the estate thousands. The Public Trustee charges 4.4% of the gross estate value as commission, which on a modest Darwin home and a few bank accounts runs to $15,000–$22,000. The same application, self-filed, costs $1,542 in court fees. A guide like the Northern Territory Probate Process Guide costs and walks you through every form and deadline.

But that is not the whole answer. If the estate is contested, if it involves Aboriginal customary law distribution, if there is no will and the family situation is complex, or if you as executor are elderly, unwell, or simply unable to take on the administrative burden, the Public Trustee's full-service handling is genuinely worth its commission. This page lays out exactly where the line falls, with real numbers, so you can decide before you commit either way.

The Core Comparison

Who the DIY Guide Is For

Choose the guide approach if you recognise yourself here:

• You're named executor in a valid will and the will is uncontested — no one is challenging its validity or threatening a family provision claim.
• The estate is straightforward: a home (solely owned or as tenants in common), some bank accounts, maybe super and a vehicle. No business interests, no overseas assets, no trust structures.
• The family is cooperative. Beneficiaries agree on the broad plan and you're not refereeing a dispute.
• You're capable of careful administrative work. The NT process is rigid — single-sided printing, separate PDFs per form, witnessing in front of a JP — but it is a checklist, not a judgment call. If you can follow detailed instructions precisely, you can do this.
• You want to preserve estate value for the beneficiaries rather than surrender 4.4% to commission.
• You want to control the timeline — to settle the estate on your schedule rather than wait in a queue.

Who the DIY Guide Is NOT For — Use the Public Trustee Instead

Hand the estate to the Public Trustee if any of these apply:

• The estate is contested — someone is challenging the will's validity, or you anticipate a family provision claim under the Administration and Probate Act 1969. Once litigation is on the table, you need professional handling and likely a solicitor.
• Aboriginal customary law distribution is involved. Where the standard intestacy formula in Schedule 6 of the Act does not reflect the deceased's cultural obligations or traditional marriage structures, distribution under Division 4A requires a Supreme Court order and expert navigation. This is not a DIY scenario.
• There is no will and the family structure is complicated — blended families, estranged relatives, dependants whose entitlements are unclear.
• You are a vulnerable executor — elderly, unwell, grieving heavily, living remotely with poor access to a JP or scanning facilities, or simply without the bandwidth to manage weeks of exacting paperwork.
• You want someone else to carry the whole thing. If peace of mind matters more than the commission, the Public Trustee removes the burden entirely. That has real value, and it is honest to say so.

The Tradeoffs, Honestly

The DIY guide — pros: You keep thousands of dollars in the estate. You stay in control of decisions and pace. You understand your own estate intimately by the end. For a clean estate, the work is finite and the savings are large.

The DIY guide — cons: It is genuinely demanding paperwork at an emotionally hard time. The NT Supreme Court registry issues formal requisitions for formatting errors — a combined PDF, a double-sided page, a missing affidavit — and each one adds weeks. You carry the executor liability and the stress. If something goes wrong mid-process, you have to fix it.

The Public Trustee — pros: Full-service. They handle the searches, the forms, the asset realisation, the distribution. They absorb the administrative burden and the operational liability. For a complex, contested, or culturally sensitive estate, that expertise is worth paying for.

The Public Trustee — cons: The commission is significant and it is charged on gross estate value, before debts and mortgages are subtracted. The timeline is theirs, not yours. You give up control over decisions. And the NT Public Trustee has attracted sustained public criticism over the years for charges levied against vulnerable estates — so "set and forget" is not free of its own risks.

The Real Cost Comparison

The single most important thing to understand: the Public Trustee's commission is calculated on the gross value of the estate — before debts, mortgages, or funeral costs are deducted. A $400,000 estate with a $250,000 mortgage is still charged commission as if it were worth $400,000.

A $400,000 estate (a modest Darwin house plus bank accounts):

• Public Trustee: 4.4% × $200,000 = $8,800, plus 3.3% × $200,000 = $6,600 → ~$15,400, plus disbursements.
• DIY guide: + $1,542 court fees → under $1,600 all-in.
• Difference: roughly $13,800 stays in the estate and goes to the beneficiaries instead of to commission.

A $200,000 estate (a smaller home, or substantial savings):

• Public Trustee: 4.4% × $200,000 = ~$8,800, plus disbursements.
• DIY guide: + $1,542 court fees → under $1,600 all-in.
• Difference: roughly $7,200 preserved for the beneficiaries.

To put it plainly: the Public Trustee's commission on a single average estate is several times the cost of a solicitor's initial consultation and many times the cost of the guide. For a straightforward estate, you are paying five figures for administrative work that the guide breaks down into a checklist anyone careful can follow.

One caveat the other direction: for very small estates, the maths can flip. The NT small estate threshold for informal administration is just $20,000 — exceptionally low compared to other states. If an estate is worth, say, $90,000, and a bank insists on a grant, the flat $1,542 court fee is a heavy tax on a small estate. In that gray zone, it's worth checking whether the Public Trustee's "election to administer" under section 110B (which only a professional personal representative — a lawyer, trustee company, or the Public Trustee — is legally permitted to use) would actually come out cheaper. The guide includes the worksheet to run that comparison before you spend anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I switch to the Public Trustee if I get stuck filing myself?

Yes. Nothing about starting the DIY process locks you in. If you attempt the application, hit a requisition you can't resolve, or simply decide the burden is too much, you can engage the Public Trustee (or a private solicitor) at that point. You will have lost some time and the court fees you've already paid, but you are not trapped. Many executors use the guide precisely to find out whether their estate is genuinely straightforward — and only escalate if it turns out not to be.

Does the Public Trustee handle intestate estates differently?

Yes. When there is no will, the estate is distributed under the intestacy rules in Schedule 6 of the Administration and Probate Act 1969, and the application is for Letters of Administration rather than a grant of probate. The Public Trustee can act as administrator of last resort and is experienced with the intestacy formula. A DIY administrator can also apply for Letters of Administration for a simple intestate estate — but the more complicated the family structure, the stronger the case for professional handling.

What if the estate has Aboriginal customary law considerations?

This is a clear case to use the Public Trustee or a solicitor, not the DIY route. The standard intestacy distribution in Schedule 6 rigidly prioritises legal spouses and biological children and does not reflect traditional marriage structures or cultural obligations. Distributing according to customary law requires an application for a Supreme Court order under Division 4A of the Act — a specialised process that a self-represented executor should not attempt alone. The guide flags this as an escalation trigger rather than trying to walk you through it.

Is the Public Trustee faster than filing myself?

Usually not. The Public Trustee works through a caseload, so your estate moves at their pace, and complex estates can sit for months. Filing yourself, you control the timeline: you can lodge the Form 88B notice the same week you receive the death certificate, complete the mandatory 14-clear-day waiting period in parallel with preparing your affidavits, and file the moment the documents are ready. The constraint on DIY speed is your own preparation, not a queue — and a well-organised executor often moves faster alone than a busy office would on their behalf.

Does the Public Trustee's commission really come out of the beneficiaries' share?

Yes — and this is the part executors most often miss. The commission is an estate expense, paid from estate assets before distribution, and it is calculated on the gross value before debts are netted off. Every dollar of commission is a dollar that does not reach the beneficiaries. On a $400,000 estate that's around $15,400 the family doesn't receive. That isn't an argument against the Public Trustee where it's genuinely needed — it's an argument for being clear-eyed about the cost when the estate is simple enough that you don't need them.

For straightforward NT estates, the Northern Territory Probate Process Guide gives you the complete filing system — every form (88A, 88B, 88G, 88H, 88T), the electronic submission rules under Practice Direction 3 of 2020, the pre-filing searches, and the cost-comparison worksheets — for less than the price of fifteen minutes of a Darwin solicitor's time. Where your estate is contested, intestate-and-complex, or involves customary law, it tells you plainly to stop and call the Public Trustee or a solicitor instead.

See more Northern Territory guides →