Prepare Estate & Request Transfer of Assets

In order for you as the Executor or Administrator to collect all assets of the estate for finalisation and distribution you need to set-up the estate. This will allow the deceased person’s assets held by organisations to be transferred into your custody.

• Register for a Tax File Number for the deceased estate to avoid paying tax at the highest income tax rate by:
• registering online here;
• completing the Tax file number – application for a deceased estate form; or
• registering through your tax agent; and
• Open a bank account for the deceased estate. These are usually called ‘Estate of the Late’ bank accounts. As you work through the process with the banks as outlined in Step 19.8 – Open an ‘Estate of the Late’ Bank Account you will be asked to set this up. You will likely need a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.

Note: where no Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are needed for the estate administration and distribution, a Next of Kin can also request funds in the deceased person’s name to be transferred to their personal account rather than an ‘Estate of the Late’ account for distribution. You must keep detailed records of what funds are personal and which belong to the estate.

Where a testamentary trust is part of the Will or if you and the Beneficiaries have agreed to set a post-death testamentary trust up as outlined in the previous Step 29 – Open Testamentary Trust Account, you may still need to complete the above steps for the deceased estate if some cash assets will be finalised and distributed outside of the trust.

If the estate has assets that need a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and you have applied to the relevant Supreme Court, you should enquire with the court if you haven’t received any documents within their standard processing times as outlined in Step 27.9.

Once you have received the documents, you should prepare certified copies that can be submitted to each organisation that requires these to initiate the funds release and transfer. Please note some organisations may require seeing the original documents and will not allow certified copies.

• Health Professions: Chiropractor, Dentist, Medical practitioner, Nurse, Optometrist, Pharmacist, Physiotherapist;
• Legal Professions: Legal practitioner, Patent attorney, Trademarks attorney;
• Court Positions: Bailiff, Justice of the Peace, Judge, Magistrate, Registrar, or Deputy Registrar, Clerk, Master of a court, CEO of a Commonwealth court;
• Government representatives (elected): Federal, State or Territory or Local;
• Public Servants: Federal, State or Territory or Local – employed for five years or more;
• Member of: Chartered Secretaries Australia, Engineers Australia, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy;
• Bank officer, building society officer, credit union officer, finance company officer – employed for five years or more, Veterinary surgeon, Accountant (member of ICA, ASA, IPA or CPA, ATMA, NTAA); and
• Minister of religion, Marriage celebrant, Notary public, Police Officer, Sheriff or Sheriff’s Officer, Teacher (full-time) at a school or tertiary education institution.

• Justice of the Peace;
• Notary public;
• Australian Consular Officer or Australian Diplomatic Officer (within the meaning of the Consular Fees Act 1955); and
• Employee of the Commonwealth or the Australian Trade Commission who works outside Australia.

From your previous contact with each organisation to find out the balance of the assets and liabilities held by them, you were likely informed about what other specific forms and documents are needed for each organisation.

Remember, if you used the simplyNotify Tool or notified the organisations directly of the death, you may have received information or even a complete kit with forms and necessary documents via email or post, which you should review.

Going through your finalised simplyEstate Assets & Liabilities Inventory showing all estate assets, you can work your way through one-by-one to make a request for transfer or release. Make sure to keep track of the dates when you submitted the requests and when you expect the transfer to occur, so you can monitor progress in case you need to follow up.

Some organisations will allow you to email or post documents for an asset release while others may ask to post the documents or even make an appointment with you in person. Make sure to always check beforehand what documentation, forms and identification are required prior to submitting to prevent unnecessary processing time delays. Also, make sure that the original documents will be returned to you or else you should only submit certified copies.

You will need to inform the relevant organisations of the bank account details, if you want the particular asset to be transferred to the trust account, ‘Estate of the Late’ account or the Next of Kin’s account.

30.3.1 Transfer Lower Value Assets

Assets that are of a lower value and don’t need a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration may have already been transferred by you.

30.3.2 Transfer Higher Value Assets

Where a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are needed, can now also be requested to be released and transferred to the ‘Estate of Late’ bank account or trust bank account you created.

30.3.3 Transfer Real Estate

Where a property was solely owned by the deceased person or as tenants in common, the real estate will in the first instance need to be transferred to the Executor’s or Administrator’s name. Once that is completed, the real estate forms part of the deceased estate and can then be sold for cash proceed distribution or can then be transferred to the appropriate Beneficiaries as part of the final distribution outlined in Step 34.

You will in most cases not be able to transfer real estate directly to the Beneficiaries without transferring to the deceased estate first. As the Executor or Administrator, you should read all the following Steps in this simplyEstate Process Guide as you may be personally liable if a claim against the estate is made and you didn’t follow the notice requirements and periods prior to distribution.

Remember, where a property is owned jointly between the deceased person and another person, the real estate will in most cases transfer to the surviving joint owner. The process to transfer is outlined by State/Territory below under the heading Joint Tenants.

simplyEstate has listed the most common processes by State/Territory in which the real estate is registered for your convenience as follows:

30.3.4 Aged Care Bond or Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD)

If you established in Step 16 that the deceased person paid an Aged Care Bond or Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD), you should find out from the aged care provider or nursing home what documents you need to provide together with the notice to request transfer of the bond or deposit to the Estate.

Depending on the arrangement, you may be able to claim:

• the entire bond or deposit;
• the bond or deposit minus any eligible deducations such as rent and care costs; and/or
• interest since the date of death.

Tip: Check the aged care agreement to confirm the arrangement and what the total claim amount should be.

Once all requests for asset transfer or release were made, you should follow up by checking the ‘Estate of Late’ or trust bank account to determine if cash was deposited. If the release was not cash but a real estate, you can search for the title to determine if the owner has changed.

Make sure to keep all receipts of funds deposited, transferred and provided to the estate.

Where the Will requires an asset to be sold so that the cash can be distributed, you as the Executor, Administrator or Next of Kin can now complete the sales process of those assets.

Note: Make sure to keep evidence of the valuations, advertising and sales contracts to show that you acted in the best interest of the estate and managed to sell at the market rate in case you are questioned later.

Where the Will is silent about selling assets, you should have agreed with the Beneficiaries how the deceased estate is to be best structured as per Step 28.4 – Deceased Estate Structure. You may have agreed to sell some or all assets for cash distribution. You should update the inventory to record sales and cash proceeds.
Alternatively, you may want to discuss with the Beneficiaries how they would like the assets in question to be split and if a sale is needed. Make sure that you and the Beneficiaries seek tax advice, so everyone can make an informed decision.

As outlined in Step 14 – Pay Bills & Other Debts you should have always kept a good eye out for any deceased estate bills, debt notices or debt repayment requests that are due to avoid late payment, additional interest or other charges while you administer the deceased estate.

Now that you have a good understanding of the estate value, if it is solvent or insolvent and funds are being transferred to the ‘Estate of the Late’ or trust bank account, you may want to start making outstanding payments that you had negotiated a deferral earlier. Refer to Step 14 – Pay Bills & Other Debts for further detail.

You must remember that as the Executor, Administrator or Next of Kin you are also responsible to manage the taxes of the estate for the duration it is in your custody. More detail is available in Step 32 – Prepare and Lodge Tax Returns.