From 1 April 2025, a new efficient way to request to search records held by the Probate Office was introduced.
Using RedCrest-Probate, you can now:
- complete an online form to submit your request
- pay the fee
- view and download documents on an application or caveat (if approved by the Probate Office)
all in the one spot: My File Searches.
A guidance video and information about the new process is available below.
SEARCHING ADVERTISEMENTS
Advertisements of an intention to apply for a grant of representation which have been published within the last three years can be searched via RedCrest-Probate.
There is no need to create a RedCrest-Probate account or login to search for an advertisement.
SEARCHING THE APPLICATIONS, CAVEATS AND WILLS INDICES
The Supreme Court of Victoria maintains an online database of all applications for a grant of probate or administration filed with the Court since 1970. You can search the application index online.
You can also search the index of caveats that have been filed with the court since 2009 and the index of wills that have been deposited with the Court for safekeeping.
SEARCHING RECORDS HELD AT THE PROBATE OFFICE
Applications for grants of probate or administration and caveats filed with the Court on, or after 1 July 2020 can be searched by submitting an online request to the Probate Office via RedCrest-Probate.
Fees apply to search an application.
How to search records held at the Probate Office:
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If wanting to search an application, first you should search for the existence of the application on the Probate Office application index. The details on the application index will include the application number and status of the application.
You will need the application number to request to search the application. Generally, only applications that have the status “Application granted” are available for search.
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If wanting to search a caveat (see the details on the caveat), search for the existence of the caveat on the caveat index. The details on the caveat index include the application number, which you will need to request to search the caveat.
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Once you have the relevant application number, you can submit a request to search and pay the required fee by going to ‘My File Searches’ on RedCrest-Probate.
You can find out more about submitting a request to search on RedCrest-Probate by watching the instructional videos below.
CREATING A REDCREST-PROBATE ACCOUNT
This video explains how to create a RedCrest-Probate account.
The following is a transcript of the 'RedCrest-Probate - Creating an account' video.
TRANSCRIPT
In this video, you'll be guided through the steps to follow when creating a new RedCrest-Probate account.
On the login screen, start off by clicking the register option. You can then enter all the required information to register as a new user, create a password, and click the register button.
You will now receive an email asking you to confirm the email address you just registered with. You can do this by clicking the confirm email address hyperlink.
This will take you to the RedCrest-Probate website, informing you of a successful validation. Click continue button to login with the email address and password of your newly created account.
Thanks for watching!
FILING A REQUEST TO SEARCH
This video explains how to file a request to search on RedCrest-Probate.
The following is a transcript of the 'RedCrest-Probate – Request to search Probate Office Records' video.
TRANSCRIPT
In this video, you'll be guided through the steps to request to search an application or caveat that has been filed with the Probate Office through RedCrest-Probate.
Start off by logging into your RedCrest-Probate account or register a new account if required.
Once you have logged in, click on “Search a granted application”.
You'll be taken to the “My File Searches” page.
Click on the green “Request to search” button.
Firstly, check your details are correct.
You can update your details by clicking on “Change details”.
Read the information text and then enter the application number you are searching.
Click “Next”. Then start answering the required questions.
As you answer those questions, the next relevant question will appear based on your previous answer.
In this example, I will be filing this request on behalf of myself as an individual.
In this example, I do not have a valid green health care card.
After selecting “Next”, you'll be shown the fee payable.
Select “Pre-approve payment and submit”.
Enter your payment details and select “Submit Payment”.
You will receive confirmation if your payment has been successful, and the request will appear in your list of submitted requests with the status reviewing.
The Probate Office will now review your request to search the file.
You will be notified by email if your request has been approved or if it's not been approved.
When you receive notice that your request was approved, log into RedCrest-Probate and navigate to “My File Searches”.
You will see a list of your approved requests.
To view the file, click on the application.
On the application page, you will see the documents that are available to view.
You can open them individually by clicking on each blue download button or “Download All”.
Once you've finished searching the file, you can return to “My File Search” and click “Archive”.
If you archive a file, you can recover it by scrolling to the bottom of this page and selecting “Restore”.
Thank you for watching.
SEARCHING RECORDS HELD AT THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA
Applications for grants of probate and administration filed with the Court prior to 1 July 2020 are held at the Public Record Office Victoria. To search those records, please contact the Public Record Office.