Succession Act 2006 (NSW)

An Act to restate, with reforms, the law relating to wills in New South Wales; to ensure that adequate provision is made for the members of the family of a deceased person, and certain other persons, from the estate of the deceased person; to make provision for the distribution of intestate estates; and for other purposes.

Sections (152)

s 1 — Name of Act
s 2 — Commencement
s 3 — Definitions
s 4 — What property may be disposed of by will?
s 5 — Minimum age for making a will
s 6 — How should a will be executed?
s 7 — Must witnesses know that they are signing a will?
s 8 — When may the Court dispense with the requirements for execution, alteration or revocation of wills?
s 9 — Persons who cannot act as witnesses to wills
s 10 — Can an interested witness benefit from a disposition under a will?
s 11 — When and how can a will be revoked?
s 12 — Effect of marriage on a will
s 13 — What is the effect of divorce or an annulment on a will?
s 14 — How a will may be altered
s 15 — How a revoked will may be revived
s 16 — Court may authorise minor to make, alter or revoke a will
s 17 — Will made by minor under an order of a foreign court
s 18 — Court may authorise a will to be made, altered or revoked for a person without testamentary capacity
s 19 — Information required in support of application for leave
s 20 — Hearing of application for leave
s 21 — Hearing an application for an order
s 22 — Court must be satisfied about certain matters
s 23 — Execution of will made under order
s 24 — Retention of will
s 25 — Separate representation of person lacking testamentary capacity
s 26 — Recognition of statutory wills
s 27 — Court may rectify a will
s 28 — Protection of personal representatives who distribute as if will had not been rectified
s 29 — What interest in property does a will dispose of?
s 30 — When a will takes effect
s 31 — Effect of failure of a disposition
s 32 — Use of extrinsic evidence to construe wills
s 33 — Effect of a change in testator’s domicile
s 34 — Income on contingent, future or deferred dispositions
s 35 — Beneficiaries must survive testator by 30 days
s 36 — What a general disposition of land includes
s 37 — What a general disposition of property includes
s 38 — Effect of devise of real property without words of limitation
s 39 — How dispositions to issue operate
s 40 — How are requirements to survive with issue construed?
s 41 — Dispositions not to fail because issue have died before testator
s 42 — Construction of residuary dispositions
s 43 — Dispositions to unincorporated associations of persons
s 44 — Can a person, by will, delegate the power to dispose of property?
s 45 — Effect of referring to a valuation in a will
s 46 — Operation of wills relating to transgender persons
s 47 — Definition of “internal law”
s 47A — Part does not limit operation of international will provisions
s 48 — General rule as to the validity of a will executed in a foreign place
s 49 — Deciding system of law to apply if more than one system of law
s 50 — Construction of the law applying to wills under foreign law
s 50A — Definitions
s 50B — Application of Convention
s 50C — Persons authorised to act in connection with international wills
s 50D — Witnesses to international wills
s 50E — Application of Act to international wills
s 51 — Will may be deposited with Registrar
s 52 — Delivery of wills by Registrar
s 53 — Failure to retain does not affect validity of will
s 54 — Persons entitled to inspect will of deceased person
s 55 — Interpretation
s 56 — Chapter to bind Crown
s 57 — Eligible persons
s 58 — When an application may be made
s 59 — When family provision order may be made
s 60 — Matters to be considered by Court
s 61 — Other possible applicants
s 62 — Interim family provision orders and orders restraining distribution of the estate
s 63 — Property that may be used for family provision orders
s 64 — Orders may affect property outside jurisdiction
s 65 — Nature of orders
s 66 — Consequential and ancillary orders
s 67 — Undertakings to restore property
s 68 — Payment for exoneration from liability for orders
s 69 — Effect of order vesting property in estate
s 70 — Variation and revocation of family provision orders
s 71 — Variation and revocation of other orders
s 72 — Effect of family provision order
s 73 — Application
s 74 — Definition
s 75 — Transactions that are relevant property transactions
s 76 — Examples of relevant property transactions
s 77 — When relevant property transactions take effect
s 78 — Notional estate order may be made only if family provision order or certain costs orders to be made
s 79 — Notional estate order may be made where property of estate distributed
s 80 — Notional estate order may be made where estate affected by relevant property transaction
s 81 — Notional estate order may be made where estate affected by subsequent relevant property transaction
s 82 — Notional estate order may be made where property of deceased transferee’s estate held by legal representative or distributed
s 83 — Disadvantage and other matters required before order can be made
s 84 — Effect of notional estate order
s 85 — More than one notional estate order may be made
s 86 — Power subject to Division 3
s 87 — General matters that must be considered by Court
s 88 — Estate must not be sufficient for provision or order as to costs
s 89 — Determination of property to be subject to notional estate order
s 90 — Restrictions on out of time or additional applications
s 91 — Grant of probate or administration to enable application to be dealt with
s 92 — Substitution of property affected by orders or proposed orders
s 93 — Protection of legal representative who distributes after giving notice
s 94 — Protection of legal representative in other circumstances
s 95 — Release of rights under Chapter
s 96 — Revocation of approval of release
s 97 — Court may determine date of death
s 98 — Mediation, orders with consent and costs
s 99 — Costs
s 100 — Evidence
s 101 — Definitions
s 102 — Intestate
s 103 — Entitlement to the whole of the intestate estate
s 104 — Spouse
s 105 — Domestic partnership
s 106 — Spouse’s statutory legacy
s 107 — Survivorship
s 108 — General limitation of non-spousal entitlements
s 109 — Adoption
s 109A — Surrogacy arrangements
s 110 — Application of this Division
s 111 — Spouse’s entitlement where no issue
s 112 — Spouse’s entitlement where issue are also issue of the spouse
s 113 — Spouse’s entitlement where any issue are not issue of the spouse
s 114 — Application of this Division
s 115 — Spouse’s right of election
s 116 — Notice to be given to spouse of right of election
s 117 — Time for making election
s 118 — How election to be made
s 119 — Basis of the election
s 120 — Exercise price—how satisfied
s 121 — Restriction on disposal of property from intestate estate
s 122 — Spouses’ entitlement where there are more than one spouse but no issue
s 123 — Spouses’ entitlement where issue are also issue of one or more of the spouses
s 124 — Spouses’ entitlement where any issue are not issue of a surviving spouse
s 125 — Sharing between spouses
s 126 — Distribution orders
s 127 — Entitlement of children
s 128 — Parents
s 129 — Brothers and sisters
s 130 — Grandparents
s 131 — Aunts and uncles
s 132 — Entitlement to take in separate capacities
s 133 — Application for distribution order
s 134 — Distribution orders
s 135 — Effect of distribution order under this Part
s 136 — Intestate leaving no persons entitled
s 137 — State has discretion to make provision out of property to which it becomes entitled
s 138 — Non-deferral of the interest of a minor
s 139 — Effect of disclaimer etc
s 140 — Effect of testamentary and other gifts
s 141 — Service of documents
s 142 — Rules of Court
s 143 — Regulations
s 144 — Savings, transitional and other provisions
s 145 — Review of Act

Sourced from the New South Wales Legislation website at 8 June 2026. For the latest information on New South Wales Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au.