A reseal of probate lets a grant made overseas or in another Australian state operate in NSW for NSW assets. This works under section 107 of the Probate and Administration Act 1898 (NSW), and the process runs through the Supreme Court of NSW and the NSW Online Registry. Start with the original grant or an exemplification. You’ll also need core forms:
- Form 111 (Summons)
- Form 113 (Reseal application)
- Form 117 (Inventory of assets)
- Form 121 (Affidavit of applicant)
Without a certified original or exemplification in hand, nothing else in this process can move forward.
Key Takeaways
A reseal of probate under section 107 of the Probate and Administration Act 1898 makes a foreign or interstate grant effective for NSW assets, provided the issuing jurisdiction is eligible and the document set is complete.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Check jurisdiction eligibility first | Reseal only applies to certain states, territories and Commonwealth Realm countries; ineligible grants need a fresh NSW application instead. |
| Order the exemplification early | Overseas courts can take weeks to issue one, and it’s usually the slowest step in the whole process. |
| Prepare all four forms correctly | Forms 111, 113, 117 and 121 must match each other exactly, especially inventory values and identity details. |
| Give 14 days’ notice before filing | Sections 42 and 109 require this minimum period, and the Online Registry publishes the notice automatically. |
| Get advice for complex or contested estates | Simons George Legal offers a free 30-minute consultation and No Win, No Fee options for eligible matters. |
Table of Contents
- When do you need a reseal of probate in NSW?
- What documents and forms does a reseal application need?
- How do you apply for a reseal through the NSW Online Registry?
- How long does a reseal application take, and what does it cost?
- What are the most common reasons a reseal application gets delayed?
- When should an executor bring in a solicitor for a reseal?
- Funding Your Legal Matter — No Win, No Fee
- Why executors need a NSW solicitor for complex reseals
- Get help resealing a grant of probate in NSW
- Where to check the official reseal rules and forms
- Sources
- FAQ
When do you need a reseal of probate in NSW?
You need a reseal when the deceased held NSW real estate, a NSW bank account, or other local assets, and the grant of probate was issued somewhere else. Banks, land titles offices and other asset holders in NSW generally won’t release or transfer property based on an interstate or foreign grant alone. They want a document that carries legal force in NSW.
Reseal is only available for grants from a specific list of jurisdictions. This covers other Australian states and territories, plus a defined set of Commonwealth Realm countries and territories, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada (most provinces), Singapore, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea.
If the grant came from an ineligible jurisdiction, resealing simply isn’t on the table. In that case, the executor has to apply for a fresh NSW grant, usually lodged using the copy of the will contained in the foreign grant as supporting evidence. Our step by step guide to the NSW probate application walks through that separate pathway in detail.
What documents and forms does a reseal application need?
Every reseal application needs a master set of documents that satisfies Supreme Court Rules 1970, Part 78, rule 78.11. Missing even one piece from this set is the fastest way to attract a requisition. Here’s what belongs in it:
- Form 111 (Summons) — the formal request asking the Court to reseal the foreign or interstate grant.
- Form 113 (Reseal application) — sets out the deceased’s details, the issuing court, and the grant type.
- Form 117 (Inventory of assets) — a sworn list of NSW assets and their values, prepared with care since inconsistent figures are a common trigger for delay.
- Form 121 (Affidavit of applicant) — confirms the applicant’s identity, relationship to the estate, and that the grant hasn’t been revoked, with prescribed witnessing requirements.
You’ll also need the original grant, an exemplification, or a court sealed certified copy from the issuing jurisdiction. Only the issuing court, or in some cases a solicitor acting on the executor’s behalf, can arrange a valid exemplification. The original will doesn’t need to be filed separately in most cases. The exemplification already contains a certified copy of it.
Pro Tip: Order your exemplification the same week you decide to reseal. Courts overseas can take weeks to process the request, and this is usually the slowest step in the entire application, not anything happening in NSW.
How do you apply for a reseal through the NSW Online Registry?
Most uncontested reseals go through the NSW Online Registry Probate service, which pre-fills much of the paperwork once you’ve entered the estate details. The process runs in a fairly fixed order:
- Register for an Online Registry account if you don’t already have one.
- Open the Probate tile and start a new reseal application, entering deceased and estate details.
- Let the system auto-generate Forms 111, 113, 117 and 121 from your entries, and work through the Applicant checklist it produces.
- Arrange signing and witnessing before you upload anything.
- Upload certified copies of your supporting documents, including the exemplification or certified grant.
- Confirm the notice of intended application, which the Online Registry publishes automatically once the application is filed.
- Pay the filing fee if it applies, then submit.
A few things catch people out here. Witnessing for the Form 121 affidavit has to follow prescribed rules, generally a solicitor, Justice of the Peace, or another authorised witness, and the Court will check identity details match across every form. Electronic certified copies are accepted for most of the upload, but the Court can still request sighting of physical originals in certain matters. If your account or upload gets stuck, the Online Registry support team can help with account and filing issues, though they can’t advise on legal strategy.
How long does a reseal application take, and what does it cost?
Under sections 42 and 109 of the Probate and Administration Act 1898, you must give at least 14 days’ notice of intended application before filing the summons. The Online Registry publishes that notice automatically when you lodge, so the clock doesn’t start until the system logs it.
- Uncontested reseals with a complete document set typically move through in a matter of weeks once the notice period has run.
- Requisitions (the Court’s queries about missing or inconsistent documents) can add weeks or months, since each round of correction and resubmission resets part of the review.
- Filing fees apply once the gross estate value exceeds the published threshold, generally $100,000. Confirm the current figure against the Court’s official fee schedule before you file.
- Exemplifications from overseas courts are often the real bottleneck. Ordering one early, before you’re ready to file everything else, keeps this off your critical path.
What are the most common reasons a reseal application gets delayed?
Requisitions follow a predictable pattern, and most of them are avoidable with a careful first pass. The Court most often queries:
- A missing or improperly certified copy of the grant.
- Inventory values in Form 117 that don’t match supporting bank statements or valuations.
- Unsigned or incorrectly witnessed affidavits, particularly Form 121.
- Witness signatures that don’t meet the prescribed categories.
Legal Aid NSW has flagged that the automated Probate Service can’t resolve complex issues on its own, and poorly prepared applications commonly attract requisitions as a result. If you’ve had more than one round of requisitions on the same point, that’s usually the moment to stop refiling and get advice rather than guessing again.
Pro Tip: Before you upload anything, read every figure in Form 117 against the actual bank statement, valuation, or title document it’s meant to reflect. This single check resolves more requisitions than any other step in the process.
When should an executor bring in a solicitor for a reseal?
Some reseals are genuinely straightforward: a single overseas grant, an uncontested estate, clean documentation. Others aren’t. Bring in a solicitor when the estate involves a trust, when beneficiaries disagree, when the issuing jurisdiction isn’t clearly on the eligible list, when asset ownership is unclear, or when you’ve already hit repeated requisitions.
Simons George Legal offers offers a free 30-minute consultation to assess exactly where your reseal sits on that scale. The firm regularly handles probate and estate administration matters, including contested wills and estate litigation, and knows what the Court expects to see in a clean submission.
A solicitor’s real value in a reseal isn’t paperwork for its own sake. It’s verifying jurisdiction eligibility before you start, preparing affidavits and inventories that match the Court’s expectations the first time, sourcing exemplifications correctly, and answering requisitions promptly if they land.
For anyone managing a reseal alongside other estate obligations, that verification step alone can save months.
Funding Your Legal Matter — No Win, No Fee
Cost shouldn’t be the reason a legitimate claim never gets pursued. Simons George Legal offers provides No Win, No Fee arrangements for eligible matters, including contested estate and inheritance dispute work connected to probate and reseal issues.
- Eligibility is assessed during a free initial consultation, so you know where you stand before committing to anything.
- This removes the upfront cost barrier, which stops many people with a genuine claimants from acting on it.
- If your matter qualifies, you proceed with a written costs agreement in place, not a blank cheque.
Book a free case assessment an appointment with Simons George Legal to find out whether your matter is eligible.
No Win, No Fee arrangements are subject to case eligibility and a written costs agreement, Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
Why executors need a NSW solicitor for complex reseals
Here’s where the standard advice usually falls short: it treats the Online Registry’s auto-generated forms as the whole job. They’re not.
Most executors assume a requisition means they did something wrong. Often it means the Court needed more context than the standard forms capture, particularly around asset valuation or the chain of certification on a foreign document. That’s not a failure of the applicant. It’s a gap in what the automated process can catch before submission.
If your case is genuinely simple, one eligible jurisdiction, one clear grant, no disputes, doing it yourself through the Online Registry is entirely reasonable. The moment any of those conditions isn’t met, the maths on paying for advice upfront usually beats the cost of a delayed, requisitioned application dragging on for months.
— George
Get help resealing a grant of probate in NSW
If you’ve read this far and you’re still not certain whether your grant qualifies for reseal, that uncertainty is exactly the kind of thing worth resolving in a single conversation rather than a month of back and forth with the Court.
Simons George Legal works with executors across Sydney, the Eastern Suburbs and regional NSW on exactly this kind of matter, checking jurisdiction eligibility, preparing the Form 121 affidavit and Form 117 inventory correctly the first time, and handling requisitions if they arise. The firm’s probate and estate administration service covers reseal applications specifically, alongside broader executor duties. New clients get a free 30-minute consultation to work out whether their situation needs a solicitor at all, or whether a few pointers are enough to get through the Online Registry process cleanly.
If your estate also involves a will dispute or a family provision claim sitting alongside the reseal, the firm’s inheritance dispute team can run both matters together rather than treating them as separate problems. Book your free consultation to find out where your reseal application stands before you file anything.
Where to check the official reseal rules and forms
Go straight to the source rather than relying on secondhand summaries:
- The Supreme Court of NSW’s reseal guidance page lists eligible jurisdictions and the current process.
- The NSW Online Registry Probate service is where you register an account and lodge the application.
- Supreme Court Rules 1970, section 78.11 on AustLII sets out the exact document requirements for the master set.
- Legal Aid NSW’s step by step reseal guide covers what to do when a matter gets complicated.
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.
Sources
- Applying for a reseal of a Grant | Supreme Court of NSW
- Probate | NSW Online Registry
- SUPREME COURT RULES 1970 – S78.11 Documents to accompany application for resealing of foreign grant
- Applying for a reseal of a grant — Legal Aid NSW
FAQ
How do you get probate resealed in Australia?
You apply through the Supreme Court of the state or territory where the assets are located, typically via that state’s online registry, submitting the original grant or an exemplification along with the required forms and a notice of intended application.
What is the current wait time for probate in NSW?
Uncontested reseal applications with a complete document set generally move through in a matter of weeks once the 14-day notice period has run, though requisitions can extend that by weeks or months.
Is resealing of a grant still available in Australia?
Yes. Every Australian state and territory still offers reseal for eligible interstate and Commonwealth Realm grants, and in NSW it runs through the Supreme Court and Online Registry under section 107 of the Probate and Administration Act 1898.
What is the average cost of probate in NSW?
Court filing fees for probate and reseal applications apply once the gross estate value exceeds the published threshold, generally $100,000, with the exact figure confirmed against the official fee schedule; legal fees vary depending on complexity, which Simons George Legal assesses during a free 30-minute consultation.
Do I need a solicitor to reseal a grant in NSW?
Not always. Simple, uncontested reseals from an eligible jurisdiction can often be completed through the Online Registry alone, but contested estates, unclear assets, or repeated requisitions are strong signs it’s time to get legal advice.