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Probate & Estates in New Zealand

When someone dies, the practical question arrives fast: can the family deal with the money, or is a High Court grant needed first? The line since 24 September 2025 is $40,000 — if any single institution holds more than that in the deceased's sole name, the executors need probate (or, with no will, an administrator needs letters of administration). Call 0800 461 100 free, any hour — for executors finding their feet, and families working out what happens without a will.

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Probate at a glance

When probate is needed

Any single institution holding over $40,000 in the deceased's sole name (threshold raised from $15,000 on 24 September 2025) — KiwiSaver balances routinely trigger it

What it is

The High Court's confirmation of the will and the executors' authority; with no will, letters of administration appoint an administrator instead

What skips it

Jointly owned property (passes to the survivor), and sole holdings under the threshold released on the institutions' own processes

No will? The shares are fixed

Intestacy: a surviving partner takes the personal chattels, the first $155,000, and one-third of the rest — children share the other two-thirds (Administration Act 1969)

The executor's watchword

Don't distribute early: claims against estates run for months (12 from the grant as the working rule), and executors who jump can answer personally

Working out if you need probate

Inventory first: list what the deceased owned and HOW. Joint bank accounts and jointly owned homes pass to the survivor outside the estate — no probate needed for those. Sole-name assets are the question: if every institution's holding is under $40,000, banks and providers release funds on their own declaration processes; the moment one institution holds more — and a KiwiSaver balance alone usually does it — the executors need the grant before anything moves.

The application goes to the High Court: the will, the death certificate, the executors' affidavit. Properly prepared applications are administrative and usually granted in weeks; defects (missing witnesses, damaged wills, informal documents) are what turn weeks into months, and they are exactly when advice earns its keep. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

No will: intestacy, letters of administration, and the fixed shares

Without a will, the Administration Act 1969 supplies both the administrator (usually the closest family member, appointed by letters of administration) and the distribution — and the distribution surprises everyone. With a surviving spouse or partner AND children: the partner takes the personal chattels, the first $155,000, and one-third of the remainder; the children share the other two-thirds. Partner but no children (with surviving parents): chattels, $155,000 and two-thirds, the parents one-third. No partner: children equally, then up the family tree.

De facto partners of three years generally count as partners. Blended families, separated-but-never-divorced spouses, and children from earlier relationships are where the fixed shares produce results nobody would have chosen — and where claims begin. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

The executor's job, honestly described

The sequence: secure the assets (property, insurance, valuables), obtain the grant, call in the funds, pay debts and testamentary expenses, resolve tax, then — and only then — distribute under the will. Alongside runs the duty to beneficiaries: even-handedness, accounts, reasonable speed without recklessness. The claim-window discipline matters most: estates face Family Protection Act and other claims for months after the grant, and an executor who distributes past written notice of a claim can be personally exposed. Executors can renounce before starting, must not cherry-pick the role, and are entitled to use estate funds for proper professional help — which contested or messy estates genuinely justify. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

The usual friction points

The house: can't be sold without the grant; insurance lapses on empty homes — tell the insurer immediately. KiwiSaver: paid to the estate, not automatically to family, and routinely the item that forces probate. Bank accounts: frozen on notification, with funeral costs releasable on invoice at most banks. The will that can't be found: search the deceased's lawyer, bank and papers — copies and even informal documents can sometimes be validated. Family conflict: executors caught between beneficiaries should document decisions and take advice early — neutrality plus paper defeats most complaints. Every one of these has a settled answer; the free line can give it to you the night the question arises. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

Administering an estate, step by step

Inventory and secureWhat was owned, how it was owned, what each institution holds. Joint assets pass outside; over $40,000 sole at one institution means probate.

Obtain the grantProbate (with a will) or letters of administration (without) from the High Court — properly prepared, a matter of weeks.

Pay, wait out the claim window, distributeDebts and tax first, distribution last — mindful of the 12-month claim horizon. Call 0800 461 100 free, any hour; book a NZ$295 (GST inclusive) consultation with a New Zealand lawyer on the call when the estate has wrinkles.

Probate — your questions answered

The bank froze Dad’s account and the funeral needs paying. What now?

Banks routinely release funeral costs against the funeral director's invoice even from a frozen account — ask the bereavement team directly. The wider release then follows the $40,000 logic: under it, the bank's declaration process; over it, probate first.

How long does probate take and can we speed it up?

A clean application is typically granted in a few weeks; the speed lever is preparation — the original will, correct affidavits, executors aligned. Complications (lost wills, informal documents, overseas executors) are what add months, and they are the cases to take advice on before filing, not after a rejection.

Mum and Dad owned everything jointly. Do we need probate when the first dies?

Often not — genuinely joint assets pass to the survivor outside the estate, and if no institution holds over $40,000 in the deceased's sole name, the threshold processes cover the rest. The full probate question usually arrives on the second death; that is also when the estate planning done earlier pays off — or doesn't.

Who inherits when there’s no will and a blended family?

The fixed intestacy shares apply regardless of what anyone intended: partner takes chattels, $155,000 and a third of the rest; ALL children — from every relationship — share the remaining two-thirds. Separated-but-undivorced spouses can still qualify as partners. It is the strongest argument for a will that exists, and the setting where estate claims are most common.

I'm the executor and a beneficiary is demanding their money now. Must I pay?

Not before the estate is ready: debts, tax and the claim window come first, and early distribution past a known risk sits on the executor personally. Explain the sequence in writing, keep accounts, and take advice at the estate's expense if pressure continues — a documented, orderly executor is untouchable; a rushed one is not.