Probate Registry Hobart: How to Lodge a Tasmania Probate Application

All probate applications in Tasmania — regardless of where in the state the deceased lived or where their assets are located — are processed through a single location: the Supreme Court of Tasmania's Probate Registry in Hobart. There are no regional registries, no satellite offices, no online lodgement portal for the physical documents. Everything goes to Hobart.

Where the Registry Is and How to Reach It

The Probate Registry operates as part of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. The court's address for Hobart is on Salamanca Place. The Registry handles all estates whether the deceased lived in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, or a remote rural area.

For executors based interstate or in regional Tasmania, this means the physical documents — the original Will, sworn affidavits, Form 4, Form 10 — must be sent to the Hobart registry by secure, trackable mail or courier. There is no electronic lodgement of the actual probate documents at this stage; Tasmania still requires manual, hard-copy submission of the application package.

Before lodging, call or email the Probate Registry directly to confirm current procedures, processing times, and any changes to fee structures. Registry staff cannot provide legal advice, but they can confirm procedural requirements.

What You Must Bring (or Send)

A complete probate application package for a Grant of Probate consists of:

Form 2 (Notice of Intention to Apply): This is filed electronically via the Supreme Court's online portal before the physical lodgement. The 14 clear days start from when this notice appears on the court's website — not from when you submit the application package.

Form 4 (Application for Grant): The formal application. The deceased's full legal name — including any aliases — must exactly match the Death Certificate and the Will.

Form 5 (Affidavit in Support of Application for Probate): A sworn document. It must be sworn or affirmed before a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations, or Australian legal practitioner. The affidavit must be signed in the physical presence of the JP or commissioner — electronic signing is not sufficient. If you're in a remote area, locate a JP through the Tasmanian Government's JP locator service.

Form 10 (Inventory of Assets and Liabilities): Lists all assets and debts. Critical rule: separate Tasmanian assets from interstate and overseas assets. The court filing fee is calculated only on the Tasmanian gross estate value. Lumping everything together may result in an overpayment or, worse, a requisition.

The original Will: Handle this document with extreme care. The Probate Registry is exacting about Will condition. Do not:

• Remove existing staples (even rusty or damaged ones)
• Add new staples or paperclips
• Add fold marks, coffee stains, or anything that could suggest pages were removed or added

Any suspicious condition on the Will triggers a formal Affidavit of Plight and Condition (Form 27), which requires explaining the state of the document and costs additional time and often legal fees to prepare.

Death Certificate: Original or a properly certified copy. Confirm with the Registry what they accept.

Filing fee payment: For 2025/2026, fees range from $534.80 (under $50,000 Tasmanian gross value) to $2,278.63 (over $5,000,000). Payment can be made via Electronic Funds Transfer. Check current fee amounts with the Registry before lodging, as they are indexed to Hobart CPI and adjust on 1 July each year.

Interstate Executors: Managing the Remote Lodgement

If you live outside Tasmania, here's the practical process for lodging remotely:

1. Online: File the Notice of Intention (Form 2) through the Supreme Court website from anywhere
2. JP/Commissioner: Find a JP or commissioner in your state to witness the Form 5 affidavit — any Australian JP or Commissioner for Declarations is acceptable
3. Courier: Send the completed package to the Hobart Registry by secure tracked courier, not regular post — the original Will is irreplaceable
4. EFT: Pay the filing fee via electronic funds transfer per the Registry's bank details
5. Track: Retain the courier tracking number; note the lodgement date for your timeline tracking

What Happens After Lodgement

Once the Registry receives your package, a Registrar reviews the application. For straightforward, error-free submissions, processing typically takes 4 to 8 weeks from the date the application is received.

If the Registrar identifies errors — mismatched names, mathematical errors in Form 10, missing signatures, suspect Will condition — they issue a formal requisition. A requisition:

• Halts processing entirely
• Levies a penalty fee of $61.12 (2025/2026) per requisition issued
• Requires you to correct the error and resubmit the relevant documents
• Can extend the total processing time to 14 weeks or more

A requisition is not unusual — it's a formal rejection notice, not a catastrophe. But it is a delay and a cost that motivated executors want to avoid.

The Optional Provisional Assessment Service

The Probate Registry offers an optional service where a Registrar will review your draft application documents before you formally lodge them. The cost is $183.36 (96 fee units, 2025/2026). This service:

• Identifies errors before they become requisitions
• Allows you to correct Form 10 or affidavit issues before paying the filing fee
• Provides written feedback on what needs to be fixed

For a first-time executor, the provisional assessment pays for itself by avoiding even one requisition. A single requisition costs $61.12 in penalty plus the time and effort of preparing a supplementary affidavit and resubmitting. The provisional assessment is strongly recommended for complex estates or executors who are not confident in their paperwork.

Letters of Administration (for intestate estates, or where no executor is named) use different forms — Form 7 (Affidavit in support of an application for letters of administration) instead of Form 5. The Registry can confirm which forms apply to your specific situation.

For complete, line-by-line guidance on each Supreme Court form and what the Probate Registry specifically looks for, the Tasmania Probate Process Guide covers the entire application process with worked examples.

See more Tasmania guides →