VIC Mother’s will containing assets/shares worldwide

[Clapton]

My friend’s mother died in November and my friend is the executor and sole beneficiary named in the will. Her mother lived overseas and died suddenly, leaving many valuable interests all over the world. Assets range from property in Victoria, NSW and Queensland to plantations in Central America to share portfolios. There are many, many assets of different kinds. She has her mother’s gmail account in which there is a lot information and detail, however, not being the organiser of the files, she is finding it difficult to navigate all of the various assets and is unsure if the gmail account holds information on all assets.
Another friend gave her the number of a financial advisor who referred her on to a very large financial/legal/tax advisory firm who have sent her costs agreements stating fees ranging from $900/hr for senior consultants working on the matter down to $350/hr for juniors.
Questions are:
1. Is it as simple as my friend applying for probate in Victoria, because that is where she lives?
2. Is there a way of searching to find any assets which may be missing from the information at hand?
3. Is there a way of approaching the various companies in which the mother had interests and claiming those interests?
4. Clearly there is a lot of work to be done but is it really necessary to engage a company who will charges rates varying from $900 down to $350 per hour, or are everyday probate lawyers capable of performing the work?

Any advice would be gladly received.

 

[Docupedia]

All of these answers include the following: The laws and requirements that will apply will generally be those of the jurisdiction in which the relevant asset is situated. So, for example, the plantations in Central America - it will be according to the laws of that country. Do not assume they will all the same or similar; and do not assume that the will will be accepted as valid in any particular jurisdiction.

1. No, but this will likely be the first necessary step (assuming Victoria is the relevant state to obtain probate in). The reason why it is 'no' is because of the jurisdiction issue above. Within Australia that will likely be fairly easy once probate is sorted out. You may need to register the probate in each relevant state, but this should be largely an administrative undertaking.
2. Yes, probably but it will differ jurisdiction to jurisdiction. How easy that will be will depend on whether ownership is located on a central register, how easy it is to access that register, and how well the register is kept up to date. Doing so may cost money and/or take time.
3. Yes. In Australia you can have personal searches done to see if a person is a company shareholder. I wouldn't bother approaching them without probate being sorted out. As for overseas companies, it's a resounding maybe due to the jurisdiction issues noted above.
4. The only way to find out is to find a firm and ask. $900/hr, albeit for the top level, sounds expensive. How necessarily the big guns are comes down to how hard all of the above is to do.