Succession Act 1981

This Act may be cited as the Succession Act 1981.

Save where otherwise expressly provided, this Act applies in the case of deaths occurring after the commencement of this Act.

This Act binds the Crown not only in right of the State but also, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.

In this Act—adopted child means, in relation to any person, a child that is adopted by such person or by such person and another person jointly, in accordance with the law of the State or Territory, or country, where the adoption takes place, as in force at the date of the adoption.annulment see section 15.country means any place or group of places having its own law of nationality, including Australia and its Territories.court means the Supreme Court or a judge thereof.debts include funeral, testamentary and administration expenses, debts and other liabilities payable out of the estate of a deceased person.de facto spouse...disposition means a disposition by will and includes the following—

a gift, devise or bequest of property by a will;

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

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

divorce see section 15.document—

for part 2, other than section 18, means any paper or material on which there is writing; or

for section 18, see the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, schedule 1.

grant means grant of probate of the will or letters of administration of the estate of a deceased person and includes the grant of an order to administer and the filing of an election to administer such an estate.income includes rents and profits.internal law, for part 2, in relation to a place, means the law that would apply if no question of the law in force in any other place arose.interpret means to render orally into another language one person’s words for other persons at the time the words are uttered or immediately thereafter.intestate means a person who dies and either does not leave a will, or leaves a will but does not dispose effectively by will of the whole or part of his or her property.pecuniary legacy includes an annuity, a general legacy, a demonstrative legacy, so far as it is not discharged out of the designated property, and any other general direction by the testator for the payment of money including all duties relating to the estate or property of a deceased person free from which any devise, bequest or payment is made to take effect.personal representative means the executor, original or by representation, or administrator of a deceased person.property...public trustee means the public trustee constituted by the Public Trustee Act 1978.registrar, for part 2, means a registrar or deputy registrar of the Supreme Court.residuary estate in part 3 has the meaning given to it by section 34 and in part 5, division 2, the meaning given to it by section 55.spouse see section 5AA.stepchild for part 4, see section 40A.translate means to render in writing or by any other means of record a text from one language to another language.trustee includes—

any person who immediately before l July 1973, was a trustee of the settlement or in any way a trustee under the Settled Land Act 1886 and who, if that Act had not been repealed, would be such a trustee; and

a statutory trustee within the meaning of the Trusts Act 2025.

will includes a codicil and any other testamentary disposition.

Generally, a person’s spouse is the person’s—

husband or wife; or

de facto partner, as defined in the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (the AIA), section 32DA; or

civil partner, as defined in the AIA, schedule 1.

However, a person is a spouse of a deceased person only if, on the deceased’s death—

the person was the deceased’s husband or wife; or

the following applied to the person—

the person was the deceased’s de facto partner, as defined in the AIA, section 32DA;

the person and the deceased had lived together as a couple on a genuine domestic basis within the meaning of the AIA, section 32DA for a continuous period of at least 2 years ending on the deceased’s death; or

the person was the deceased’s civil partner; or

for part 4, the person was—

a person mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (ba); or

the deceased’s dependant former husband or wife or civil partner.a

Subsection (2) applies—

despite the AIA, section 32DA(6) and schedule 1, definition spouse; and

whether the deceased died testate or intestate.

In this section—dependent former husband or wife or civil partner, of a deceased person, means—

a person who—

was divorced by or from the deceased at any time, whether before or after the commencement of this Act; and

had not remarried or entered into a civil partnership with another person before the deceased’s death; and

was on the deceased’s death receiving, or entitled to receive, maintenance from the deceased; or

a person who—

was in a civil partnership with the deceased that was terminated under the Civil Partnerships Act 2011, section 19; and

had not married or entered into another civil partnership before the deceased’s death; and

was on the deceased’s death receiving, or entitled to receive, maintenance from the deceased.

A reference in this Act to a child or issue of any person includes a child or issue en ventre sa mere at the death, provided such child or issue is born alive and remains alive for a period of 30 days.

A reference in this Act to the estate of a deceased person includes property over which the deceased exercises or is entitled to exercise a general power of appointment by will.

A note in the text of this Act is part of the Act.

Subject to this Act, the court has jurisdiction in every respect as may be convenient to grant and revoke probate of the will or letters of administration of the estate of any deceased person, to hear and determine all testamentary matters and to hear and determine all matters relating to the estate and the administration of the estate of any deceased person; and has jurisdiction to make all such declarations and to make and enforce all such orders as may be necessary or convenient in every such respect.

The court may in its discretion grant probate of the will or letters of administration of the estate of a deceased person notwithstanding that the deceased person left no estate in Queensland or elsewhere or that the person to whom the grant is made is not resident or domiciled in Queensland.

A grant may be made to such person and subject to such provisions, including conditions or limitations, as the court may think fit.

Without restricting the generality of subsections (1) to (3) the court has jurisdiction to make, for the more convenient administration of any property comprised in the estate of a deceased person, any order which it has jurisdiction to make in relation to the administration of trust property under the provisions of the Trusts Act 2025.

This section applies whether the death has occurred before or after the commencement of this Act.

Subject to section 76, this part applies only to a will of a person who dies after the commencement of this section.

A person may dispose by will of any property to which the person is entitled at the time of the person’s death.

Subsection (1) applies whether or not the entitlement existed at the date of the making of the will.

A person may dispose by will of any property to which the person’s personal representative becomes entitled, in the person’s capacity as personal representative, after the person’s death.

Subsection (3) applies whether or not the entitlement existed at the time of the person’s death.

A person may not dispose by will of property of which the person is trustee at the time of the person’s death.

A will made by a minor is not valid.

However—

a minor may make a will in contemplation of marriage, and may alter or revoke the will, but the will is of no effect if the marriage contemplated does not take place; and

a minor who is married may make, alter or revoke a will; and

a minor whose marriage has ended, whether by divorce, annulment or death of the minor’s spouse, may revoke part or all of a will made—

in contemplation of the marriage; or

while the person was married.

Subsection (1) does not apply to a will—

made under an order made under section 19; or

mentioned in section 33X.

This section sets out the way a will must be executed.

A will must be—

in writing; and

signed by—

the testator; or

someone else, in the presence of and at the direction of the testator.

The signature must be made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of 2 or more witnesses present at the same time.

At least 2 of the witnesses must attest and sign the will in the presence of the testator, but not necessarily in the presence of each other.

However, none of the witnesses need to know that the document attested and signed is a will.

The signatures need not be at the foot of the will.

The signature of the testator must be made with the intention of executing the will.

The signature of a person, other than the testator, made in the presence of and at the direction of the testator must be made with the intention of executing the will.

A will need not have an attestation clause.

A person who can not see and attest that a testator has signed a document may not act as a witness to a will.

If a testator purports to make an appointment by will in the exercise of a power of appointment by will, the appointment is not valid unless the will is executed under this section.

If a power is conferred on a person to make an appointment by will and the appointment must be executed in a particular way or with a particular solemnity, the person may make the appointment by a will that is executed under this section but is not executed in the particular way or with the particular solemnity.

This section does not apply to a will made under an order under section 21.