Compliance Issues
Probate Online Advertising System
The Supreme Court of Victoria has introduced the Probate Online Advertising System (POAS), which is a method of submitting Probate and Letters of Administration advertisements online. The new process will be mandatory from 2 September 2009.
From 2 March 2009 until 1 September 2009, a dual advertising system for the publication of advertisements in Victoria will be in place. During this period, practitioners and court users can advertise on the Court's website or by newspaper in the traditional way. From 2 September 2009 all advertisements, save and except those referred to below, must be advertised on this website.
The procedures set out on this website apply to advertisements other than:
- the re-sealing of foreign grants of Probate and Administration;
- Trustee Company Elections to administer the estates of deceased persons.
The fee to publish an advertisement is AUD$35.75 and is payable by Direct Debit (for registered users), Visa Card or Mastercard.
There is no fee payable to search for an advertisement.
Please see our Estate Advertisements in Victoria document for more information.
2008 Contract of Sale of Land.
The 2008 Contract of Sale of Land differs in many ways from its predecessor, which has been in use in various forms in Victoria since about 1983 and which was the prescribed contract pursuant to the Estate Agents (Contracts) Regulations 1997 made pursuant to s.99 of the Estate Agents Act 1980 (EAA). These regulations have been replaced by the Estate Agents (Contracts) Regulations 2008, which come into effect on 28 September 2008.
The regulations bind estate agents, but not other participants in the conveyancing industry, such as legal practitioners and conveyancers. Coincidentally all conveyancers are required to be licensed from 1 October 2008 and, once licensed, are entitled to undertake legal work associated with conveyancing. Parties, legal practitioners and conveyancers may prepare contracts of sale of land in any form, indeed on the back of the proverbial tram ticket, and such contracts, provided that they satisfy formality requirements, will be enforceable. The regulations on the other hand require estate agents to prepare contracts in the prescribed form, unless an agent uses a form of contract prepared by a legal practitioner or conveyancer. This is reflective of the historical view that the role of the agent was to bring the parties to an agreement, not specify the terms of that agreement.
The new Contract of Sale of Land is available for all our valued LEAP Office clients via an online update. If you are interested in finding out of more information about LEAP Office, please contact Ramsey Cabbani.