How Much Does Probate Cost in Tasmania in 2026?

The total cost of probate in Tasmania depends on three variables: the gross value of the estate, whether you engage a solicitor, and whether you make errors along the way. Court filing fees are set by the Supreme Court of Tasmania and indexed annually to the Hobart Consumer Price Index under the Fee Units Act 1997. The figures below apply for 2025/2026 — verify the current year's rates at the Supreme Court's website before lodging, as adjustments typically take effect on 1 July.

Supreme Court Filing Fees (2025/2026)

Tasmania uses a tiered, progressive fee structure based solely on the gross value of assets located within Tasmania — not interstate or overseas assets.

These fees are for the application only. Additional costs apply at various stages.

Additional Court Costs

Provisional assessment (optional, but recommended): $183.36. This pays the Registrar to review your draft application documents before you formally lodge them. For self-represented executors, this service can prevent a rejection.

Requisition penalty: $61.12 per requisition. If the Registrar identifies errors — an unexplained alias, a mathematical inconsistency in the asset inventory, or a Will with unexplained staple holes — they issue a formal requisition. This halts the application, charges the penalty fee, and adds weeks to the timeline. On complex estates, processing can extend from the standard four-to-eight weeks to fourteen weeks or more when requisitions are involved.

Notice of Intention to Apply (Form 2): This must be published online on the Supreme Court's centralized portal before lodging the formal application. Verify the current fee at the court's website. A mandatory fourteen-day statutory waiting period applies after publication before you can file.

Land Titles Office Costs

If the deceased owned real property, additional fees apply at the Land Titles Office (LTO):

Note that most LTO instruments must now be lodged electronically by a licensed conveyancer or solicitor — the DIY option for property transfers has been progressively removed. This means real estate within the estate adds both LTO fees and professional conveyancing costs.

Births, Deaths and Marriages

You will need multiple certified copies of the Death Certificate. The current fee is $65.96 per standard certificate from BDM Tasmania, with priority processing (24-hour turnaround) available for an additional $42.02. Most applications require at least two to three copies: one for the court, one for each financial institution, and one for the LTO.

What a Solicitor Charges

Traditional Tasmanian law firms — Butler McIntyre & Butler, Simmons Wolfhagen, Tierney Law, and others — operate on hourly billable rates. For a straightforward estate with a single property and two bank accounts, total solicitor fees for the probate application alone typically run into several thousand dollars, excluding court filing fees, disbursements, and any complications.

There is no standard rate across Tasmania's legal market. Some firms charge a percentage of estate value; others bill hourly. Always request a written costs estimate before engaging a firm.

Fixed-Fee Probate Services

A newer cohort of tech-enabled legal providers offers fixed-fee probate in Tasmania. One example, Bare Law, charges $1,999 for the grant application (excluding court filing fees). National Probate operates similarly, marketing the ability to handle the process remotely without requiring you to attend a Hobart office.

Fixed-fee services are better suited to straightforward estates where the primary task is preparing and lodging the application correctly. They generally focus on the grant itself and do not cover subsequent LTO transmission applications, ATO correspondence, or beneficiary distribution — those steps remain your responsibility.

The Public Trustee Option

If the process feels unmanageable, the Public Trustee of Tasmania can administer the estate. Their fee structure is:

• 4.5% on the first $200,000 of estate capital
• 3.5% on the next $200,000
• 2.5% on the next $200,000
• Minimum fee: $1,500 to $4,500
• 6.6% income commission on interest and dividends received during administration

On a $600,000 estate, Public Trustee fees would reach approximately $22,000. This makes them a costly option compared to self-representation with professional help at specific bottlenecks.

For very small estates (under approximately $30,000 in sole-name liquid assets with no real property), the Public Trustee holds a statutory power to file an "election to administer" under the Public Trustee Act 1930, bypassing the Supreme Court entirely for a flat fee of $147.07. This is genuinely useful for families with minimal assets and no capacity to navigate the court process.

The Real Cost of DIY Probate

Managing the application yourself is legally permissible and achievable for most straightforward estates. The actual costs involved in a self-represented application look approximately like this:

• Death certificates: $65.96 × 3 = ~$200
• Notice of Intention: verify current fee
• Court filing fee (varies by estate value): $534.80 to $2,278.63
• Provisional assessment (optional but recommended): $183.36
• LTO title search (if real property): $39.20
• LTO Transfer by Assent (if real property): $250.21 + conveyancing costs
• Postage and certified copies: nominal

For a mid-range estate worth $400,000, a self-represented application with no complications would cost roughly $1,500 to $1,800 in fees — compared to $4,000 to $8,000+ with a traditional solicitor.

The risk of a requisition ($61.12 plus delay) is the primary cost variable in self-representation. Using the court's provisional assessment service, or working through a comprehensive plain-English guide before filing, substantially reduces that risk.

The Tasmania Probate Process Guide provides a pre-filing quality assurance checklist built around the Supreme Court's most common requisition triggers, along with a line-by-line walkthrough of Forms 4, 5, and 10 — the three documents where errors most frequently occur.

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