Searches for wills and probate

Unlike some other Australian jurisdictions, the Supreme Court of Queensland does not hold Queensland wills.

The court retains the original will only if a person has died and their executor has applied for a grant of probate. There is no legal requirement to apply for probate in every deceased estate.

Once a will is filed in the court, it becomes a public document. Any person can view the will on the file on payment of a fee.

To establish whether probate has been applied for, you can search civil files on the website. If you search the deceased’s name (exact spelling required) and don't find a file, it’s unlikely that probate or any other grant has been applied for or granted.

What you can and can’t search

You can search for wills that have been provided as part of an application for probate or letters of administration with the will.

However, we are unable to tell you whether a will is the most current version.

Additionally, if probate or letters of administration with the will have been applied for but not yet granted, we are unable to guarantee the will is valid at that point.

Search for a will

To find a will with probate or letters of administration with the will, or an application for a grant (probate, letters of administration with the will, or letters of administration on intestacy):

  1. Go to the eCourts online search facility.
  2. Scroll down to ‘Party details’ and type in the deceased’s name into the appropriate boxes (with same spelling as any application that has been made).
  3. Choose ‘Deceased’ or ‘Deceased alias’ from the dropdown menu to narrow the search.
  4. Click Search.

This may give you details such as date filed, file number, name of the applicant/s (executor/s or administrator/s), the type of grant applied for and whether it’s been granted.

If you don’t get a result, the will or file you’re after probably hasn’t been filed with the court.

Get a copy

If you find the file you’re after, you may request a copy. Follow these instructions to order a copy of any filed document for a fee (i.e. a search and/or retrieval fee and photocopy fee per page):

  1. Take note of the file number of the successful search result.
  2. Go to our Search and copy court documents page and read the instructions.
  3. Click on ‘Apply to search and copy’ and complete your application.

Contact a Supreme Court registry if you have any queries.