QLD Is probate required to sell property is deceased estate?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

bluekies

Member
13 February 2018
3
0
1
My mother passed away in January. My brother is executor of the will and along with my sister, we are the 3 beneficiaries. We wish to sell her house and have read conflicting information about whether we need to apply for probate. The conveyancer seemed to say we didn’t need to- just transfer the house into the executor’s name. So my questions are:
1) Can the house be transferred into the executor’s name and sold without probate, just on the basis of the will?

2) If it is transferred solely into the executors name and sold in his name, and there is no probate, is he still legally required to distribute the proceeds equally as stated in the will? The conveyancer told him it is much quicker and cheaper to transfer into one name rather than all three beneficiaries. Is this true or could the executor be being sneaky?

3) if it is allowed, how does one change the name on the title

Thanks in advance for your insights.
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
16 February 2017
2,452
514
2,894
Gold Coast, Queensland
lawtap.com
There’s scope to transfer the property into the executors names without obtaining probate, which they will then hold as ‘personal representatives’. You will need to lodge the original will with the Titles Office. They will keep it. The only scope for them to release the will is if you intend to apply to probate later, in which case they will deliver it to the Supreme Court.

Once the property is registered in the executors’ names, they can execute a contract of sale and instruct a solicitor to do the conveyance if they wish. Conveyancers are not legally recognised in Queensland, and I wouldn’t be listening to the one you mentioned in any case. You can’t ‘just transfer to one of the three beneficiaries’.

The form required for the Titles Office is a Transmission by Death.