South Australia Probate Requisition: What It Means and How to Answer It

You filed the CourtSA application, posted the original will, and then waited. A few weeks later, instead of a grant, you received an email from [email protected] with a subject line about a "requisition." Your application has been halted.

A probate requisition in South Australia is a formal notice from the Probate Registry that something in your application is incorrect, incomplete, or non-compliant with Chapter 25 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020. It does not mean your application has been rejected permanently. It means the examining officer cannot process it as submitted. You need to address the specific issue raised and resubmit.

The frustrating part: registry staff are legally prohibited from providing legal advice, so the requisition notice typically names the violated rule (e.g., "Rule 356.3") without explaining what you actually need to do. This post breaks down the most common reasons SA probate applications receive requisitions and how to fix each one.

The Most Common Requisition Causes

1. Will Tampering: Disturbed Staples or Binding

This is the most frequent requisition trigger, and it catches executors who are simply trying to make a clean scan of the document.

Under CourtSA practice rules, the original will must be lodged with the Probate Registry with its staple, binding, or clip completely undisturbed. Any evidence that the binding has been removed and replaced — including extra staple holes, paper damage near previous holes, or a will that has clearly been rebound — triggers an automatic requisition. The examining officer must then ask whether pages were added, removed, or substituted before the document was restapled.

How to avoid it: Scan the will in its original bound state. Place the document flat on a scanner and gently fold it open page by page without removing the staple. Modern scanner software can stitch individual scans into a single PDF. The physical document you lodge should show no sign of having been disturbed.

How to fix it if you've already disturbed the staple: You'll need to prepare an affidavit explaining how and why the binding was removed (e.g., for scanning purposes) and confirming that no pages were added, removed, or altered. This affidavit must be sworn before an authorized person and submitted as a supplementary document via CourtSA. The delay while this is processed typically runs four to six weeks.

2. Name Discrepancies Between the Will and the Death Certificate

If the deceased is referred to as "Robert James Thompson" in the will but the death certificate issued by Consumer and Business Services (CBS) shows "Robert Thompson," the CourtSA system flags the inconsistency and requires you to formally address it.

How to fix it: The examining officer needs to be satisfied that the person in the will and the person named on the death certificate are the same individual. If the discrepancy is minor (missing middle name, initials vs. full name), you can address this within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities by noting the deceased was "also known as" the alternative name. For more significant discrepancies — a different surname from a previous marriage, for example — a supplementary affidavit from a person who knew the deceased and can confirm their identity is required.

3. Co-Executor Issues Not Addressed

If the will names two executors but one of them has died or is not acting, the CourtSA system requires every named executor to be definitively accounted for. Leaving a co-executor's status unaddressed is one of the most common application errors.

Scenarios and how to resolve them:

• Co-executor has died: State their full name and exact date of death in the application. Include a note that they predeceased the testator (or survived the testator briefly, if relevant).
• Co-executor is alive but not acting: They must formally renounce their rights by completing and filing Form PROB16 (Renunciation of Probate) before or alongside your application. Alternatively, they can have "leave reserved" — stepping back for now while retaining the right to apply for a double grant later — but this must be formally noted in the application.
• Co-executor cannot be located: This is more complex and may require a solicitor's involvement to satisfy the registry.

4. Real Estate Valuation Without Supporting Evidence

The Uniform Civil Rules 2020 require that all asset values in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect the estate as at the date of death, not the date of application. For real property, the value must be backed by either:

• The Valuer General's assessment (found on the council rates notice), or
• A formal valuation from a licensed property valuer.

An executor's own estimate — "I think the house is worth about $750,000" — will be rejected. The registry examiner will not accept an unsupported number for real estate, and the resulting requisition asks you to supply a valuation document.

How to fix it: Obtain the most recent council rates notice and use the Valuer General's assessment. If this figure is significantly below current market value (Valuer General assessments often lag the market), note this in your application but use the Valuer General figure — it's what the rules require for probate fee calculation purposes.

5. Statement of Assets and Liabilities Errors

The digital CourtSA portal generates the Statement of Assets and Liabilities from information you input. Common errors include:

• Including post-death funeral expenses as a liability. Funeral costs are excluded from the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for probate fee purposes. Only debts that existed as at the date of death (mortgages, credit card balances, tax liabilities) are included.
• Incorrectly categorising jointly held assets. Bank accounts held jointly (where the surviving account holder becomes sole owner automatically) should not be included in the gross estate value. Only solely held assets and the deceased's share of tenancy-in-common property are included.
• Listing superannuation as a probate asset. Superannuation paid directly to a named beneficiary does not form part of the estate. List it only if it's payable to the estate rather than a named individual.
• Interstate assets. If the deceased was domiciled in Australia, assets held interstate must be disclosed. Failing to include them when required is a common omission.

6. Incomplete Certificate of Identity

Self-represented applicants (those without a solicitor) must present 100 points of identification to an authorized witness and have the Certificate of Identity signed and completed alongside certified copies of the ID documents. Common failures include:

• The Certificate of Identity is unsigned by the authorized witness
• The ID documents certified don't add to 100 points
• The applicant's name on the ID doesn't match the name on the application
• The address on the ID doesn't match the applicant's current residential address
• Certified copies of ID are not stapled to the Certificate of Identity

If you have multiple personal applicants, each must complete a separate Certificate of Identity. One certificate for both applicants is not acceptable.

Amending a CourtSA Application After Lodgement

Once your digital application has been submitted and the physical documents lodged, amending the Statement of Assets and Liabilities requires specific steps within the CourtSA system — you cannot simply re-enter the portal and edit. Incorrect amendments can result in additional filing fees. The requisition notice should specify what changes are required; follow those instructions precisely, and if the portal's interface is unclear, contact the Courts Administration Authority.

Note that the registry cannot advise you on how to correct the substantive legal issue — only on the technical steps to submit a revised document.

How Long a Requisition Adds to the Timeline

Each requisition cycle typically adds four to eight weeks to the grant timeline. The process is:

1. Receive requisition by email
2. Identify the specific rule or requirement cited
3. Prepare the correction or supplementary document
4. Resubmit through CourtSA
5. Wait for the examining officer to review again

If the corrected submission is still non-compliant, the process repeats. Complex requisitions — particularly those involving missing executors or will integrity questions — can extend the timeline to four or five months beyond initial lodgement.

Preventing Requisitions Before You File

The most reliable way to avoid a requisition is to cross-check your application against the compliance requirements before you submit. This means verifying:

• The original will's binding is undisturbed
• Names match exactly across all documents (or discrepancies are addressed)
• All named executors are accounted for
• Real estate is valued by the Valuer General or a licensed valuer
• The Statement of Assets and Liabilities excludes funeral costs and jointly held accounts
• The Certificate of Identity is fully completed and properly witnessed

The South Australia Probate Process Guide includes a pre-lodgement checklist built around the specific requisition triggers the Probate Registry looks for — so your first application clears without delay.

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