South Australia Probate Fee Calculator

How South Australia calculates the probate fee

The Supreme Court of South Australia charges a probate filing fee tiered by the gross value of the deceased estate, reset each financial year. The fee is a flat dollar amount for each value band, not a percentage of the estate, and it steps up as the gross value rises.

The same tiers apply whether you are applying for a grant of probate, letters of administration, or asking the Court to reseal a grant made in another jurisdiction, since the fee schedule lists the same four tiers for a grant (item 1) and for resealing a grant under section 57 of the Succession Act 2023 (item 2).

Superannuation and life insurance proceeds generally only need to be disclosed, and counted toward the gross value, if they are being paid into the estate rather than direct to a nominated beneficiary. Liabilities are valued as at the date of death and do not include the probate filing fee itself or funeral costs.

What else you pay

South Australia does not charge a separate advertising or notice fee on top of the probate filing fee. The Probate Rules here do not require a mandatory public notice before you can lodge an application, so there is no matching fee for one.

The Court can still order that notice of a particular application be given to interested people, but that decision is made case by case rather than being a routine step every applicant pays for.

How to apply for probate in South Australia

All probate lodgements in South Australia go through CourtSA, the Supreme Court's electronic filing system. You work out which type of grant you need, gather your documents, complete the CourtSA application form online, and pay the filing fee through CourtSA's payment page.

Your application is not treated as complete until the original will and any codicils, or the original grant from another jurisdiction for a reseal, plus identity documents for personal applicants, have also been lodged with the Registry in person or by post.

You are not required to use a lawyer to apply. The Court's own guidance simply cautions that a personal application can be more onerous than expected and that administering an estate is a technical process, without making legal representation compulsory.

Fee concessions

South Australia has an official form, Form 076A, for applying to the Registrar for a remission or reduction of court fees. The form asks the Registrar for a remission or reduction on the grounds of poverty or another proper reason, with details of income and benefits; the Registrar decides each application.

Small estate options

Two separate mechanisms let some estates avoid a full grant application in South Australia, and they should not be confused with each other. Under section 100 of the Succession Act 2023, a bank, institution, or other holder of $15,000 or less in cash or property belonging to the deceased can pay or transfer it directly to a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or child, without either of them needing a grant of probate or administration.

Separately, section 73 lets the Public Trustee administer a small estate worth $100,000 or less, so long as it does not include real property, without applying to the Supreme Court at all. This path is only available through the Public Trustee, not to a lay executor acting alone, and it takes effect once the Public Trustee has given notice to the Registrar of Probates and published notice in the Government Gazette and on its website.

Neither of these is a general rule that estates below a certain value never need probate. They are specific statutory mechanisms with their own conditions, and most estates that include real property, or exceed these thresholds, still need a grant.

How long it takes

The Probate Registry's own guidance states that an uncomplicated application, lodged in the correct form, should generally issue in under four weeks. More complex estates, or applications with errors or missing documents, can take longer.

What this calculator does not cover

This calculator estimates the Supreme Court filing fee only. It does not cover Public Trustee administration charges, legal fees if you engage a practitioner, or the cost of valuing or transferring specific assets such as real property or a business.

It also does not tell you whether a grant is required for a particular estate. A low fee band reflects the cost of the application, not whether a grant is legally necessary; South Australia's small estate mechanisms above are the only official ways to potentially avoid a full grant, and only within their specific conditions.