South Australia Probate Checklist: Forms, ID Requirements, and CourtSA Application

Most executors in South Australia start the probate process in exactly the wrong place — they call a lawyer before they have any of the documents ready. The result is an expensive consultation spent gathering basic information that could have been collected beforehand. This checklist works through the process in the correct order, so you arrive at each step prepared.

Step 1: Register the Death and Obtain the Death Certificate

Before anything else can happen, the death must be formally registered with Consumer and Business Services (CBS) — Births, Deaths and Marriages South Australia. The funeral director normally handles this registration on the family's behalf, but you should confirm it has been lodged.

Once registered, you will need to order official death certificate copies. Most institutions require a certified original (not a photocopy), and you will need multiple copies — at minimum one for each financial institution, one for Land Services SA, and one for the CourtSA probate application. Order at least five to eight copies from the outset. Ordering them individually later costs time and delays every subsequent step.

One practical time-saver: register with the Australian Death Notification Service (a federal initiative) to notify multiple banks, superannuation funds, and utilities in a single online session. This prevents ongoing charges on accounts that have been frozen.

Step 2: Locate the Original Will

The CourtSA Probate Registry requires the original, physically signed will. Copies are not acceptable for standard lodgement — submitting a copy triggers a secondary court application that adds cost and months of delay.

Under Section 48 of the Succession Act 2023 (SA), which commenced on 1 January 2025, a broad range of people have the legal right to inspect or obtain a copy of the will before any grant is made. This includes anyone named in current or previous wills, the surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, parents, and anyone entitled to inherit on intestacy. Communicate transparently with family members from the outset — disputes often escalate when relatives feel they are being kept in the dark about the will's contents.

Critical warning: Never remove staples, bindings, or clips from the original will, even to scan it. The Probate Registry will issue a formal requisition if staple holes suggest pages may have been added or removed. Scan the document flat, with the binding intact.

Step 3: Complete the 100-Point Identity Check

Personal applicants (those filing without a solicitor) must satisfy the 100-point identity verification required under Rule 351.8 and Practice Note 4 of 2024. This is one of the most common reasons self-represented executors receive requisitions, so get it right the first time.

Category A documents (passport, birth certificate) carry 70 points each. Category B documents (driver's licence, Medicare card, council rates notice) carry 25–40 points. You need to reach 100 points using a combination of originals.

All documents must reflect exactly the same legal name and your current residential address. If your name has changed since any document was issued (for example, through marriage), you must provide the linking certificate.

Once you have your documents, you need an authorised witness to certify copies and sign the Certificate of Identity simultaneously. Acceptable witnesses include:

• A Justice of the Peace (JP)
• A non-probationary police officer
• A Notary Public
• A Commissioner for taking affidavits

The witness signs the Certificate of Identity and certifies each ID document. If there are multiple personal applicants, each person must complete a separate Certificate of Identity. The certified copies are then stapled (not clipped) to the Certificate.

Step 4: Prepare the Statement of Assets and Liabilities

Chapter 25 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020 (Rule 356.17) requires a meticulous inventory of all assets and liabilities. Every valuation must reflect the exact value as at the date of death, not the date of your application.

Key rules:

• Real estate: Must be valued using the Valuer General figure on the council rates notice, or a formal appraisal by a licensed property valuer. A personal estimate is not acceptable and will be rejected.
• Bank accounts: List the balance at date of death, confirmed in writing by the institution.
• Superannuation: Generally sits outside the estate (see separate note below) unless directed to the estate. Include only if formally directed to the estate.
• Debts and liabilities: Include mortgages, credit card balances, and tax liabilities. Exclude post-death funeral expenses from this inventory.
• Interstate or overseas assets: If the deceased was domiciled in Australia, disclose assets located outside South Australia.

Step 5: Mark the Original Will

Rule 356.5 of the Uniform Civil Rules requires the original will to be legally "marked" before lodgement. The applicant and the authorised witness must physically sign the reverse side of the last page of the original will at the same time as the 100-point ID check is completed.

This signing session is one event — both the Certificate of Identity and the marking of the will happen together, in front of the same witness.

Step 6: File the CourtSA Application Online

The South Australia probate application online process uses the CourtSA portal. You will need a registered CourtSA account. The portal uses a decision-tree questionnaire to generate the draft grant and the Statement of Assets and Liabilities based on your inputs.

Before you submit, check:

• [ ] All executors named in the will are accounted for (deceased co-executors require their date of death; unwilling co-executors must file a Renunciation)
• [ ] The deceased's name on the death certificate matches the will exactly (discrepancies require supplementary affidavits)
• [ ] Real estate valuations come from the Valuer General or a licensed valuer
• [ ] Superannuation and life insurance are correctly excluded (or included only if directed to the estate)

Once you complete the digital form and pay the filing fee by credit card, the portal generates a unique "PROB" file number and an Original Will Coversheet.

Step 7: Physical Lodgement

Paying the CourtSA fee online does not start the registry's review. You must also physically lodge the original will.

Print the Original Will Coversheet and attach it to the outside of a standard A4 envelope. Inside the envelope, place:

1. The original, unfolded will (with the marking signatures on the back of the last page, and staples untouched)
2. The original Certificate of Identity with certified ID copies stapled to it

Deliver this envelope in person or by registered post to the Probate Registry at the Sir Samuel Way Building, 241–259 Victoria Square, Adelaide. The registry will not begin its review until the physical documents arrive and are matched to the digital file.

CourtSA Filing Fees (2025/2026)

Note: You cannot apply earlier than 28 days after the date of death. The registry will not process applications lodged before this mandatory waiting period.

What Can You Skip? The Small Estate Exceptions

Not every estate requires the full Supreme Court process.

Section 100 of the Succession Act 2023: Any institution or person holding $15,000 or less of the deceased's money or personal property may transfer it directly to a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or child — no grant required. This statutory rule frequently conflicts with individual bank policies, however, and some tellers will refuse to acknowledge it without management escalation.

Section 73 — Public Trustee small estates: If the total estate is valued at $100,000 or less and contains no real property, the Public Trustee can administer it through a gazette notice process that bypasses Supreme Court fees entirely. The trade-off is the Public Trustee's commission (4.4% for estates up to $200,000) and their administrative timeline.

Joint tenancy: If the deceased held real property as a joint tenant with another person, that property passes automatically to the surviving owner through survivorship. The survivor lodges an "Application to Register Death by Survivor" (Form DOC 73.0 KB) directly with Land Services SA — no probate required.

The South Australia probate process has significant new complexity since the Succession Act 2023 took effect on 1 January 2025. The South Australia Probate Process Guide covers every step in the CourtSA application sequence, including a pre-lodgement checklist designed to prevent the most common requisitions, a bank-by-bank threshold matrix, and step-by-step Transmission Application instructions for property transfers through Land Services SA.

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