Estate administration automation for NSW law firms

The estate administration automation library

• Estate Matter Intake & Executor Onboarding — structured intake that immediately calculates the key statutory deadlines for the matter, so critical dates are tracked from day one, not discovered later.
• AML/CTF Compliance — automated customer due diligence for executors and beneficiaries, identity verification, risk assessment, and compliance officer approval routing, configured to current regulatory requirements and updated as those requirements evolve.
• Superannuation Death Benefits Tracking — superannuation does not form part of the estate in Australia and must be managed in parallel with probate, not as part of it. Automated fund notification, nomination status monitoring, and payment deadline tracking.
• Asset, Liability & Valuation Coordination — structured investigation letters to banks, share registries, insurers, and the tax office, with automatic chasing and the correct cost-base information captured at the point of valuation, not reconstructed later.
• NSW Supreme Court Probate Application — application readiness gated on the statutory notice period, so applications are never lodged early and rejected.
• Family Provision Claim Monitoring — the statutory claim window is tracked with escalating alerts as it approaches — distribution is gated until the window closes or all claims are resolved.
• Tax Clearance & CGT Management — capital gains calculated per asset according to the rules that apply to Australian estates, with clearance tracked as a distribution gate.
• Digital Assets Investigation — cryptocurrency, NFTs, and online accounts identified and valued per current professional guidance, with the correct cost-base treatment applied.
• Estate Distribution & Closure — distribution accounts, beneficiary payments, and a complete closure checklist including the record retention requirements that apply to estate matters.

What makes NSW estate administration different

No inheritance tax — capital gains tax is the operative tax

Unlike many other jurisdictions, Australia has no inheritance tax. Capital gains tax is what applies on death — and critically, the deceased's original cost base carries over to the estate and beneficiaries rather than resetting to market value at death. Capturing accurate cost-base information at the point of valuation, not reconstructing it months later, is essential to getting the tax position right.

A statutory window for family provision claims

Eligible persons — spouse, de facto partner, child, financially dependent grandchild, or someone in a close personal relationship with the deceased — have a defined statutory window to file a family provision claim under NSW succession law. Distributing before that window closes, or before all potential claimants are resolved, exposes executors to real risk — and the precise timing is something we confirm against current legislation for every matter, not something we publish and leave static on a webpage.

Superannuation sits outside the estate

Superannuation death benefits are governed by the trust deed of each fund, not by the will, and follow a separate notification and payment process to the rest of the estate. The tax treatment also depends on who receives the benefit — dependants are treated differently to non-dependants under current rules.

A time-limited capital gains exemption on the family home

Where the deceased's main residence passes to a beneficiary or is sold within a defined period after death, a capital gains exemption may apply. Outside that window, or where the property was income-producing, the exemption is reduced or lost — one of the more consequential timing decisions in estate administration, and one we work through with you against the rules current at the time.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Does this automation handle AML/CTF compliance for estate work? +

  Yes. As reporting obligations extend further into legal practice, the automation includes customer due diligence, risk assessment, and compliance officer routing as standard — configured to current requirements and updated as those requirements evolve, rather than fixed to a point in time.

• How does this track the family provision claim window? +

  The relevant statutory window is calculated automatically and monitored with escalating alerts as it approaches. Distribution is gated until the window closes or all potential claims are resolved — and the underlying timing is confirmed against current legislation for your matter, not assumed from a generic template.

• Does this handle superannuation death benefits? +

  Yes. Superannuation sits outside the estate under Australian law and is tracked separately — fund notification, nomination status, and payment deadlines are all monitored automatically.

• What about cryptocurrency and digital assets? +

  Digital assets are identified and valued per current professional guidance, with the correct capital gains cost-base treatment applied — critical since Australia does not reset cost base at death.

• Why doesn't this page list specific deadlines and thresholds? +

  Estate law and the obligations around it change, and a page that states a specific figure today can be wrong within the year. We work through the deadlines, thresholds, and obligations that apply to your specific matter directly, against current legislation — not from a static published figure that may have moved on.

• What does this cost? +

  Every engagement is scoped and fixed-price, confirmed after an assessment of your current estates workload — never an hourly rate, never open-ended.