Windsor and the Hawkesbury
Probate lawyers for Windsor and the Hawkesbury
We act for executors and families across the Hawkesbury, from Windsor and Richmond out to Kurrajong, Wilberforce and the river settlements. One of our two principals is a Hawkesbury local, so you spend the first appointment talking about the estate rather than explaining where the property is.
Alicia Catron 0407 171 626 or Michelle Simmons 0407 534 594. We take instructions by phone and video, and we travel to clients in the Hawkesbury where attending our office is not practical.
How we help
Probate
Obtaining the grant and administering the estate, including transferring or selling rural and residential land. Fixed scale fees for straightforward estates, ordinarily paid from the estate.
Letters of administration
Where there is no will, or the named executor has died or will not act. The intestacy rules decide who takes, and they are not what most families expect.
Wills and estate planning
Wills for families with land, a business or a blended family, including testamentary trusts where a beneficiary needs protecting.
Powers of attorney
Enduring powers so someone you trust can deal with your finances, and with the property, if you lose capacity.
Enduring guardianship
Appointing someone to make health and lifestyle decisions for you. Usually done at the same appointment as the will.
Estate disputes
Family provision claims and challenges to validity, acting for claimants and for executors defending the estate.
What we see locally
What Hawkesbury estates tend to involve
The process of obtaining a grant is the same wherever you live. What differs is what sits inside the estate, and that is usually where things go wrong.
- One property that is most of the estate. Whether it is a house in South Windsor or acreage at Freemans Reach, where the property dwarfs everything else an equal division between children becomes genuinely difficult, particularly if one of them wants to keep it. That has to be resolved in the will rather than left to the executor and the siblings to negotiate afterwards.
- Blended families. A second marriage with children from an earlier relationship is the most common source of estate litigation we see anywhere, and mirror wills are usually the wrong answer for it.
- The child who stayed. Where one child remained at home, cared for a parent, or worked the property for years while the others moved away, that changes their position on a family provision claim. It is also entirely avoidable if it is dealt with while the parent is alive.
- Land held for a very long time. Property bought decades ago carries capital gains consequences on a later sale that families are frequently unaware of. There is no death duty in Australia, but the tax question does not disappear, and it is worth raising with your accountant early.
- Flood affected property. Land on the floodplain raises valuation and insurance questions a metropolitan estate never encounters. An executor has to keep the property insured while the estate is unresolved, and flood history affects both the date of death valuation and the eventual sale.
- Rural holdings. Where the estate includes acreage, there are usually complications that a suburban estate does not have: several titles making up one holding, subdivision potential affecting the valuation, water access licences, and plant, machinery or stock that all need to be valued and insured and that lose value while an estate sits.
- Superannuation and self managed funds. Superannuation is not automatically an estate asset, and where there is a self managed fund, control of it after a member dies is governed by the deed rather than the will. We check that the two do not contradict each other.
Working with us from the Hawkesbury
Our office is in Bella Vista, an easy run down Windsor Road and a trip we make in both directions often enough. In practice the distance rarely matters, because almost none of an estate matter requires you to be in a room with us.
Nothing is filed locally
Probate applications go to the Supreme Court in Sydney and are filed electronically. There is no Hawkesbury registry and no court attendance in a straightforward estate, so where your solicitor sits makes no difference to the process.
Phone, video and post
We take instructions by phone or video and send drafts to you to read before anything is signed. Documents can be posted where that is easier than a trip in.
We come to you
Where a client is unwell, in hospital or in aged care, or where attending our office is not practical, we make arrangements to see them in the Hawkesbury. Wills are often needed at short notice and we treat those as urgent.
You deal with a principal
Two principal solicitors, both admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW. Your matter is not handed down to a different paralegal each time you call.
Fixed fees
Wills, powers of attorney and enduring guardianship appointments are quoted as a fixed fee before we start. Probate is charged on the regulated scale for straightforward estates, and additional work is disclosed to you in advance.
Conveyancing in the same office
We do the conveyancing as well. Where an estate has to sell or transfer property, the grant, the transmission of the title and the sale all connect, and splitting them across two firms adds delay and cost rather than saving anything. The same applies when a downsize or a sale prompts a new will.
Where we act
Across the Hawkesbury and the surrounding district, including Windsor, South Windsor, Bligh Park, McGraths Hill, Richmond, North Richmond, Hobartville, Pitt Town, Wilberforce, Ebenezer, Freemans Reach, Glossodia, Kurrajong, Kurmond, Grose Vale, Grose Wold, Agnes Banks, Londonderry, Mulgrave, Vineyard, Oakville, Maraylya, Cattai, Sackville, Lower Portland, Colo, Wisemans Ferry and St Albans, and more widely across the Hills, Blacktown and the rest of New South Wales.
Not sure whether we cover your area? Call and ask.
Questions we are asked locally
Who will I be dealing with?
One of the two principals of the firm, from the first call through to the finalisation of the estate. Alicia Catron and Michelle Simmons both practise in wills and estates, and Michelle is a Hawkesbury local. Either of us is happy to take the first call.
Do I have to travel to Bella Vista?
Usually only once, to sign. Instructions can be taken by phone or video, drafts are sent to you to read in your own time, and where attending is not practical we will come to you. Nothing about an estate application requires you to attend court.
Where is probate applied for if we live in Windsor?
The Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney. There is no local registry for estates and Windsor Local Court has no role in them. The application is filed electronically, so distance is irrelevant to how long it takes or what it costs.
The house is in Dad’s sole name. What happens now?
A grant of probate will almost certainly be needed before the property can be transferred or sold, because it was held in his name alone. If it had been held as joint tenants with a surviving spouse, no grant would be required and the title would be dealt with by a notification of death instead. Bring us the original will and a recent rates notice and we will tell you which applies.
How is the property valued for the estate?
The inventory shows the value as at the date of death, not what it might fetch later. For a standard residential property an appraisal is often enough. For acreage it usually means a valuation, particularly where there are several titles, subdivision potential, water entitlements or flood affectation, and the same goes for machinery or stock. Getting this wrong causes requisitions and can cause arguments with beneficiaries later.
The property has flooded before. Does that affect the estate?
It affects the valuation, and it affects what the executor has to do. An executor must preserve the estate, which includes keeping insurance on foot over land and buildings while the estate is unresolved. If a property is uninsured or underinsured and something happens, the executor can be personally exposed.
The estate has to sell the property. Can you do that too?
Yes. We do the conveyancing as well, and it is simpler to keep it in one office. The grant, the transmission of the title into the executor’s name and the sale itself all connect, and running them through two firms tends to add delay rather than save anything.
There is no will. What do we do?
You apply for letters of administration rather than probate, and the estate is divided under the intestacy rules instead of by a will. Those rules are not a simple order of priority and a surviving spouse frequently takes the whole estate, which is not what most families expect. Search thoroughly for a will first, including with any solicitor the deceased ever used.
One of us stayed and looked after Mum. Does that count for anything?
It can. Contributions to the estate and to the deceased’s welfare are among the things the court weighs on a family provision claim, so a child who stayed, provided care or worked the property while others moved away is in a materially different position. There is a twelve month limit from the date of death, so take advice early rather than waiting to see how the family settles.
What does a will cost?
A fixed fee, quoted before we start. A straightforward will, or a pair of mirror wills for a couple, sits at the lower end. A will dealing with rural land, a farming business, a testamentary trust or a blended family costs more because there is considerably more work in it.
Talk to us about the estate
Whether you are an executor holding a folder of paperwork you did not ask for, or you have land and a family and no will, one call will tell you what is involved, what it will cost and how long it should take.
Alicia Catron 0407 171 626 or Michelle Simmons 0407 534 594. Suite 3.13, 33 Lexington Drive, Bella Vista NSW 2153. Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, and contactable outside those hours.