Succession Act 2023 (SA)

South Australia

Succession Act 2023

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to wills, probate and administration, the administration of deceased estates, intestacy and family provision, to repeal the Administration and Probate Act 1919, the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1972 and the Wills Act 1936, to make related amendments to various other Acts, and for other purposes.

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:

This Act may be cited as the Succession Act 2023.

1. (1)

   This Act comes into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

2. (2)

   Section 27(6) of the Legislation Interpretation Act 2021 does not apply to this Act.

1. (1)

   In this Act—

administration means letters of administration of the estate of deceased persons, whether with or without the will annexed, and whether granted for general, special or limited purposes;

adult means a person of or above the age of 18 years;

annulment of a person's marriage means—

1. (a)

   the annulment of the marriage by the Family Court of Australia; or

2. (b)

   the annulment of the marriage under a law of a place outside Australia, if the annulment is recognised in Australia under the Family Law Act;

Australian jurisdiction means a State or Territory of the Commonwealth;

Australian legal practitioner means a local legal practitioner or an interstate legal practitioner;

child, in relation to a deceased person, includes a person who is recognised as a child of the deceased person by virtue of the Family Relationships Act 1975;

Convention means the Convention providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will 1973 signed in Washington D.C. on 26 October 1973;

Court means the Supreme Court of South Australia;

deemed grant of probate or administration means a grant of probate or administration taken to have been granted by virtue of the operation of section 73(4);

disposition includes—

1. (a)

   a devise, bequest, legacy or other gift of property under a will; and

2. (b)

   the creation by will of a power of appointment affecting property; and

3. (c)

   the exercise by will of a power of appointment affecting property;

divorce of a person means the termination of the person's marriage by—

1. (a)

   a divorce order in relation to the marriage taking effect under the Family Law Act; or

2. (b)

   the dissolution of the marriage in accordance with the law of a place outside Australia, if the dissolution is recognised in Australia under the Family Law Act;

domestic partner—

1. (a)

   in relation to a living person means a person who is a domestic partner within the meaning of the Family Relationships Act 1975, whether declared as such under that Act or not;

2. (b)

   in relation to a deceased person means—

   1. (i)

      a person declared under the Family Relationships Act 1975 to have been the domestic partner of the deceased person as at the date of the deceased person's death; or

   2. (ii)

      a person who was in a registered relationship…