How to Release Funds Without Probate in South Australia (Section 100 and Other Options)

Not every South Australian estate needs to go through the Supreme Court. The assumption that probate is automatically required whenever someone dies causes families to spend months and hundreds — sometimes thousands — of dollars on applications that were never necessary.

The Succession Act 2023 (SA), which commenced on 1 January 2025, created a structured set of pathways for releasing estate funds and transferring assets without a formal court grant. Whether any of these apply to you depends on what the deceased owned, how it was held, and who the beneficiaries are.

The Section 100 Direct Transfer Rule

Section 100 of the Succession Act 2023 is the primary statutory mechanism for small-amount transfers without probate. It works like this:

Any person or institution holding $15,000 or less in cash or personal property belonging to the deceased may transfer those assets directly to a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or child — without requiring a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.

This applies to banks, financial institutions, employers holding final wages, and any other party sitting on small amounts. The threshold applies per holding, not per estate: if a person held $10,000 with one credit union and $8,000 with another, each institution can in theory release under Section 100 independently.

The practical problem: Bank tellers are often unaware of Section 100, or their internal compliance teams haven't updated procedures to reflect the 2025 Act. If you encounter resistance, ask to be transferred to the bank's deceased estate specialist team, have the provision written out, and be clear that Section 100 removes any legal exposure the institution would otherwise face.

It's also important to understand what Section 100 doesn't do: receiving a transfer under this provision doesn't automatically entitle the recipient to keep the funds if the will or intestacy rules say otherwise. It removes the administrative bottleneck of probate for small amounts, but the money is still part of the estate and must be distributed correctly.

Joint Bank Accounts and Survivorship

If the deceased held bank accounts jointly with a surviving spouse or partner, those accounts generally continue operating under the surviving account holder's name. The surviving owner doesn't need probate to access joint accounts — they need to notify the bank of the death, provide a certified Death Certificate, and ask for the deceased's name to be removed.

This is one of the most common situations where probate seems required but isn't. If the couple's savings were in a joint account, the surviving spouse typically has immediate access. The complication arises when accounts were in the deceased's sole name — which is where bank thresholds and Section 100 become relevant.

Real Property Held as Joint Tenants

If the deceased owned real estate as a joint tenant with another person, the property passes automatically to the surviving owner through the legal rule of survivorship — outside the probate process entirely.

No Supreme Court grant is needed. However, the surviving owner must formally record the change of ownership with Land Services SA. This requires lodging an "Application to Register Death by Survivor" (Form DOC 73) along with the Death Certificate and Verification of Identity documents.

The Land Services SA registration fee is approximately $192. That's it — no court fees, no executor's oath, no Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

If the property was held as tenants in common (each person owning a defined share), this survivorship route is not available. The deceased's share forms part of the estate and probate becomes mandatory to transfer it.

The Public Trustee Small Estate Route: Section 73

For estates valued at $100,000 or less with no real property, Section 73 of the Succession Act 2023 provides another bypass. The Public Trustee of South Australia can administer the estate without a formal Supreme Court application.

The Public Trustee publishes a notice in the South Australian Government Gazette and on its website, after which a "deemed grant" of administration is established. This eliminates the CourtSA filing fee of $987 (the baseline for estates under $200,000).

The cost trade-off is real, though. The Public Trustee charges:

• 4.4% of gross assets for estates up to $200,000 in value
• An annual administration and audit fee of $204

For a $60,000 estate, that's approximately $2,640 in Public Trustee commission — significantly more than the court fee alone. But for an executor who is intimidated by the CourtSA portal and has no legal experience, the comparison is between $987 in court fees plus the cost of your own time and risk, versus a fully managed process at a higher total cost.

Bank Thresholds: Informal Release Without Going to Court

Separately from Section 100, major banks maintain internal thresholds for releasing funds without a formal court grant. These typically sit higher than $15,000 and allow executors to access accounts under a signed indemnity agreement:

• Commonwealth Bank: approximately $100,000
• Westpac: approximately $40,000–$100,000 depending on account type
• ANZ: approximately $100,000
• BankSA: approximately $50,000
• NAB: case-by-case, with a $15,000 cap for direct funeral expense payments

If the total deceased estate bank balance at any single institution falls below that institution's threshold, you may be able to access funds by presenting a Death Certificate, a copy of the will, proof of identity as executor, and signing the bank's indemnity form — with no court application required.

Superannuation: Entirely Outside the Estate

Superannuation passes directly to nominated beneficiaries via the super fund trustee and bypasses probate completely unless the deceased explicitly directed their super to the estate. If a binding death benefit nomination is in place, the fund pays out to the nominated beneficiaries without any court involvement.

Similarly, life insurance proceeds with a named beneficiary pass directly to that beneficiary outside the estate.

When You Cannot Avoid Probate

Probate becomes unavoidable the moment any of the following apply:

• Real estate was held in the deceased's sole name or as tenants in common
• Bank balances at any single institution exceed that institution's informal release threshold
• There is a dispute over the will or intestacy distribution
• The estate is insolvent and formal administration is required to manage creditor priority

For most South Australians who owned a home — and given Adelaide's property market — the estate value will typically exceed the informal release thresholds, making some form of formal administration necessary.

If you're weighing your options — probate, Public Trustee, or informal bank release — the South Australia Probate Process Guide provides a step-by-step decision tree aligned with the current Succession Act 2023 thresholds and the CourtSA digital filing requirements.

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