A new system for lodging estate applications online in the Supreme Court has commenced.
New e-lodgment portal
The Queensland Courts and Tribunals Online Services Portal allows legal practitioners to electronically lodge estate applications such as for grants of probate, letters of administration, caveats, renunciations, reseals, and revocations of grants of probate.
The court’s Guide to e-lodgment for legal practitioners assists practitioners in navigating the new e-lodgment portal. A log-in using a digital identity is required.
Law firms using the portal need to create an organisation profile, which allows individual users to be added and managed. To add a new user to the portal as part of a firm, an Organisation Request Code has to be created and entered.
Staff of a law firm who log into the portal have to identify themselves as a legal practitioner, paralegal, legal assistant, or administrative officer.
The home page of the new e-lodgment portal offers three services:
- Probate search;
- Wills and Estates;
- Document verification.
Probate search
Searches for applications or grants and to locate wills and estate records can be conducted through the portal.
Wills and Estates
The wills and estates service enables the user to prepare and submit estate applications which can be saved in draft.
When the application is ready, it can be submitted choosing which location the application should be filed in: Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, or Rockhampton.
Supporting documents must be uploaded in pdf format, with a size limit of 20MB per document, before an application can be submitted.
Once the application is submitted, a reference number will issue.
The original will must be provided to the Registry together with a covering letter and the reference number.
The portal does not currently accept payments. An invoice will be sent out with a link to pay online.
When the registry has filed the application, a court file number will be allocated to the matter. This is a different number to the reference number.
The registry will confirm by email when the application has been lodged and filed, and the grant has been issued. A link to download the court sealed documents will also be provided.
Document verification
The document verification service is for financial institutions to verify the authenticity of court-issued documents provided to them by administrators or customers.
Publication updates
The By Lawyers Probate (QLD) and Letters of Administration (QLD) publications have been updated accordingly.