Treasury is consulting on amendments to the Banking Act to increase the withdrawal limit without production of probate, of the will, or letters of administration of the estate and to permit payments to include the payment of court filing fees.
The proposed amendments to section 69B of the Banking Act 1959 increase the withdrawal limit an ADI can make in payment of specified expenses of a deceased person’s (the depositor) estate without production of probate, of the will, or letters of administration of the estate to $30,000 from $15,000.
The draft Bill also amends the permissible payments that may be made under section 69B of the Act to expressly include payment of court filing fees for applying for probate of the deceased person’s will, or letters of administration of the deceased person’s estate.
Under the increased limit the payment of expenses specified in section 69B of the Act cannot exceed a total of $30,000.
Once the Bill is passed by Parliament the changes will commence the day after Royal Assent.
The increased limit will apply regardless of whether the deceased depositor died before, on or after commencement.
If before commencement of the amendments made by the Bill to section 69B of the Act, an ADI had applied any amounts in accordance with section 69B of the Act in respect of a deceased depositor, those amounts are to be counted, and taken into account, in determining the total amount that may be applied by the ADI in respect of that depositor after commencement.
If you found this article helpful, then subscribe to our news emails to keep up to date and look at our video courses for in-depth training. Use the search box at the top right of this page or the categories list on the right hand side of this page to check for other articles on the same or related matters.
Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
Email:
About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.
