Contesting a will and Part IV claims in Victoria

• Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) (VIC)

  The principal Act. Part IV (sections 90 to 99A) is the family provision scheme. Section 90 defines eligible person and the other key terms, and says the Court means the Supreme Court or the County Court. Section 90A lets an eligible person apply. Section 91 gives the Court power to order provision, sets out what it must be satisfied of (including the deceased's moral duty and the failure to make adequate provision) and limits the amount. Section 91A lists the matters the Court must and may take into account. Section 99 sets the six month time limit from the grant and the rules on extensions, and section 99A protects personal representatives who distribute and governs notices of intention to apply. The rest of the Act deals with grants of representation and the administration of estates.

• Wills Act 1997 (Vic) (VIC)

  Governs how a valid will is made, altered and revoked in Victoria, the Court's power to dispense with formal requirements for an informal document (s 9), court-authorised wills for people without testamentary capacity (s 21), rectification of a will (s 31) and who may see a will (s 50). It is the starting point for any challenge to the validity of a Victorian will.

• Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) (VIC)

  Establishes the Supreme Court of Victoria. Section 24 makes costs in the Court, including in the administration of estates, a matter for the Court's discretion. Under section 24A, unless all the parties who attend agree in writing, nothing said or done at a mediation the Court has referred the case to can be used as evidence at the hearing. Section 24A does not cover a judicial resolution conference, such as a mediation run by a judge, associate judge or judicial registrar; the Civil Procedure Act 2010 deals with those.

• Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) (VIC)

  Imposes overarching obligations on parties and their lawyers, including to act honestly (s 17), to have a proper basis for each claim (s 18), to use reasonable endeavours to resolve the dispute (s 22), to narrow the issues (s 23), to keep costs reasonable and proportionate (s 24), to minimise delay (s 25) and to disclose critical documents (s 26). Section 66 lets the Court refer a proceeding to mediation or another form of dispute resolution. Under section 67, nothing said or done at a judicial resolution conference (for example a mediation run by a judge, associate judge or judicial registrar) can be used as evidence at the hearing unless the Court orders otherwise. Both the Supreme Court and the County Court apply these obligations in family provision cases.

• Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (CTH)

  Commonwealth law regulating superannuation funds, including how trustees pay benefits when a member dies. Super does not automatically form part of a person's estate. A death benefit the fund pays directly to a nominated beneficiary or dependant is not an estate asset, so it is outside a Victorian Part IV claim; super paid to the legal personal representative (the executor or administrator) becomes part of the estate.

• Supreme Court of Victoria - Testators Family Maintenance List

  The case management list in the Common Law Division that manages all proceedings in the Court under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958. It has judges in charge and a judicial registrar. List directions days are generally held every second week during sitting terms, and the dates are published on the list page. If most of the parties or witnesses live in regional Victoria, the claim is started in the Civil Circuit List but is still managed in the TFM List.

• Practice Note SC CL 7 - Testators Family Maintenance List

  The practice note for the TFM List. It was reissued to commence on 12 January 2026 and applies to all proceedings in the List. It sets out what the originating motion must contain, the material the plaintiff must file before the first directions hearing (including an open position statement instead of an affidavit where the estate's inventory value is under $1,000,000), the solicitor's costs estimate and disclosure of any conditional costs agreement and uplift fee, the referral of applications to mediation, and how settlements are finalised.

• Supreme Court of Victoria - Probate Office

  Processes applications for probate and letters of administration, issues grants and keeps a register of them, and holds wills deposited for safekeeping. Its online indexes show whether an application has been made and granted and list the caveats filed, and you can search advertisements of intended applications from the last three years. Caveats are filed online through RedCrest-Probate.

• County Court of Victoria - Family Property List

  The County Court also hears Part IV claims, which are started in its Family Property List by originating motion. Under the Court's February 2026 Common Law Division practice note, the List allocates a trial date within six months of the first administrative mention, uses short position statements rather than affidavits, and has special procedures for estates valued at $160,000 or less. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, every case must go through at least one formal dispute resolution process before trial. The List is described as particularly suited to estates under $2.75 million or claims under $800,000, although the County Court has no monetary limit.

• State Trustees Victoria

  A Victorian Government-backed trustee company. It administers deceased estates where it has been appointed executor in a will, and it acts where a person dies without a valid will and there are no family members to help.

1. 01Check the grant and diarise the deadline

   Use the Supreme Court's online application index to see whether an application for probate or letters of administration has been made and whether it has been granted, and search the advertisements of intended applications. The six month period under section 99 runs from the date of the grant, which appears on the grant itself and can be checked through a file search on RedCrest-Probate. If nothing has been granted yet the period has not started, but keep checking.

   Typical timeframe: As soon as possible

2. 02Assess eligibility and the estate

   Confirm that you fall within a category of eligible person in section 90 and, if you are a registered caring partner, a grandchild, the spouse or partner of a child of the deceased who died within a year, or a household member, that you were wholly or partly dependent on the deceased. Work out which assets actually form part of the estate, because assets outside it cannot be reached in Victoria.

   Typical timeframe: Before you file

3. 03Notify the executor and exchange information

   Write to the personal representative about your claim and ask for the will, the grant and a statement of the estate's assets and liabilities. A written notice of intention to apply, signed by you or your lawyer, lapses three months after the executor receives it unless your application has been filed, and it cannot be renewed. It does not extend the six month time limit (s 99A).

   Typical timeframe: Early, well inside the six months

4. 04Issue the originating motion

   File an originating motion in the Supreme Court or the County Court within the six month period. In the Supreme Court it is endorsed for the TFM List, is brought under Order 16 of the Supreme Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2018, and must state the date of death, the date of the last will, the date of the grant, your relationship to the deceased, the inventory value of the estate and whether the claim is in or out of time. In the County Court's Family Property List no affidavit or summons is filed with the originating motion.

   Typical timeframe: Within six months after the grant

5. 05First directions hearing

   In the Supreme Court a summons for directions is filed with a return date at least 14 days after filing. By 2.00 pm three business days before the first return, the plaintiff must file and serve an affidavit (or an open position statement if the estate's inventory value is under $1,000,000), an affidavit from their solicitor estimating costs to the end of mediation and saying whether there is a conditional costs agreement and any estimated uplift fee, and the certificates the Civil Procedure Act 2010 requires. Proposed orders must state the provision sought and identify any child, adult under disability or unascertained beneficiary who may be affected. In the County Court there is instead an administrative mention, typically seven weeks after the defendant files an appearance.

   Typical timeframe: Return date at least 14 days after the summons is filed

6. 06Mediation

   Practice Note SC CL 7 says that generally all TFM applications are referred to mediation, either a judicial mediation before a judicial officer or a mediation before a specified court officer. In the County Court's Family Property List, unless there are exceptional circumstances, every proceeding must go through at least one formal dispute resolution process before trial, and private mediation is the most common.

   Typical timeframe: After the first directions, on the dates the Court orders

7. 07Pre-trial directions and trial

   If the claim does not settle, the parties submit proposed pre-trial directions and trial listing orders at least three business days before the post-mediation directions hearing, and the Court lists the matter for trial. Costs remain in the Court's discretion throughout.

   Typical timeframe: Set by the Court's orders; the County Court list allocates a trial date within six months of the first administrative mention

Costs are in the Court's discretion (s 24 Supreme Court Act 1986; Practice Note SC CL 7). A successful claimant has traditionally had their costs paid out of the estate, but if your claim fails you may have to pay some or all of the other side's costs. In the Supreme Court your solicitor must file an estimate of your costs to the end of mediation and disclose any conditional costs agreement and estimated uplift fee, and on settlement the Court can query costs that look unreasonable or disproportionate. The County Court's practice note expects costs to the end of mediation in its Family Property List to be between $11,000 and $40,000. Court fees rise every 1 July. From 1 July 2026 the Supreme Court fee to start a proceeding is $865.20 at the standard rate (individuals, executors and administrators), $357.50 for a Health Care Card holder and $1,730.50 at the corporate rate. There is no fee for a summons for directions; mediation, setting down and hearing days cost extra. Some people qualify for an automatic fee waiver, for example with a legal aid grant or certain pro bono representation, and others can apply for a waiver for financial hardship.