Succession Act 1965 section 129

District probate registries

Section 129 deals with the establishment, management, and closure of district probate registries, including transitional arrangements for registries that existed before the Act came into force.

• The Minister has the power to establish district probate registries by order, specifying the districts they serve and where they are located.
• The Minister can alter district boundaries, increase or reduce the number of districts, relocate registries within their districts, or close registries altogether.
• When a registry is closed, the Minister can arrange for probate applications from people in the affected district to be submitted through the local county registrar, who forwards them to the central Probate Office and returns the grants when issued.
• Any district probate registries already in existence when the Act commenced continued to operate for their existing districts and locations until the Minister made new arrangements under this section.

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