Either a trustee company or a lawyer can prepare a valid will in Victoria. The real choice is who will administer your estate and how they will be paid for it. A trustee company commonly expects to be named as your executor and is paid from the estate. With a lawyer, you choose your own executor, and the estate pays for legal work only as it is actually done.
In this article
- Who can prepare a will in Victoria?
- What are you really choosing?
- How is a trustee company paid as executor?
- How is a family executor or a lawyer paid?
- When does a trustee company make sense?
- When is a lawyer and a family executor the better fit?
- What if your will already names a trustee company?
- What does a will cost with us?
- Common questions
Who can prepare a will in Victoria?
A trustee company, a lawyer or the will-maker themselves can prepare a valid will, and whoever prepares it, the will must meet the same formal requirements under the Wills Act 1997 (Vic). It must be in writing and signed by the will-maker, or by someone else in their presence and at their direction, the signature must be made or acknowledged in front of two witnesses present at the same time, and at least two of those witnesses must sign the will in the will-maker's presence. Our guide to making a valid will in Victoria explains those requirements and the mistakes that most often undo them.
Preparing a will is also one of the traditional trustee company services the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) recognises for licensed trustee companies, alongside acting as executor or administrator of an estate. So the difference between the two choices is rarely whether the will is valid. It is two separate questions that are easy to run together: who drafts your will, and who administers your estate under it.
What are you really choosing?
Your executor is the person or company who collects your assets after you die, pays your debts, applies for probate where it is needed and distributes what is left to your beneficiaries. That role can run for a year or more on an ordinary estate, and for many years where the will sets up a trust for young children.
A trustee company's will service is commonly offered on the footing that the company will be named as your executor. For some people that is exactly the right arrangement. It does mean, however, that the decision about who administers your estate, and how they are paid for it, is made at the moment the will is drafted, and it is worth making that decision deliberately rather than by default.
When a lawyer drafts your will, you appoint whoever you choose, most often a spouse, an adult child or a close friend, with a second person named in case the first cannot act. A family executor does not need legal knowledge, because they can engage a lawyer for the technical work and the estate pays for that work as it is actually done. The two models can also be combined: the Corporations Act contemplates a trustee company acting as executor alone or jointly with someone else, so a company can sit beside a family member rather than in place of one.
How is a trustee company paid as executor?
A licensed trustee company must keep an up to date schedule of the fees it generally charges available to the public on its website, and free of charge at its offices during opening hours. Under Chapter 5D of the Corporations Act it generally cannot charge more than the schedule it had most recently published before it started providing the service, although it can charge fees that the will directs to be paid, or fees agreed with the people who have authority to deal with it. It is also reimbursed for disbursements properly made, it can charge a reasonable fee for preparing the estate's tax returns, and its fees are paid out of the estate itself.
Trustee company fees for administering an estate are commonly calculated by reference to the value of the estate, so the cost moves with what you own rather than with how much work the estate needs. A house and two bank accounts can be simple to administer and still be worth a great deal. Before you sign a will naming any trustee company, State Trustees included, ask for its fees in writing, work out what they would come to on your own estate, and compare that with what the administration is likely to involve.
How is a family executor or a lawyer paid?
An executor is not paid for their time simply because they hold the role. For a family member or a lawyer acting as executor, the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) allows payment from one of three places. The first is a clause in the will providing for it, the second is the informed consent of each beneficiary whose share of the residue would be reduced by it, and the third is an order of the Supreme Court allowing commission of up to 5 per cent, as the court considers just and reasonable.
A clause in a will paying the executor only works if the will-maker gave written informed consent to it before signing the will. That rule matters most where the person drafting the will is also named as executor, which some lawyers do. An executor whose will provides for commission may instead elect to charge fees for their executor's work, but only where the fees are less than the commission, are not calculated at a rate that reflects their professional skills, and are kept separate from any fees for professional services.
An executor other than a trustee company who wants to be paid must also tell each of those beneficiaries, as soon as reasonably practicable, the basis of the payment, how it is calculated, its estimated value and their right to have it reviewed by the court. An executor who does not do so is not entitled to commission or fees from the estate. Separately, the Supreme Court can reduce, or order repayment of, commission or fees it finds excessive, on the application of anyone interested in the estate, such as a beneficiary, or of a creditor, or on its own motion, although that power does not apply to State Trustees.
None of this affects legal costs. A family executor who engages a lawyer pays the lawyer from the estate. Our fixed fee for a probate application on a straightforward estate is $1,815 including GST, and administering the estate after the grant is estimated in writing once we know its shape, so the family knows the cost before the work begins.
If your will already names a trustee company and you are not sure what that will mean for your family, we can read it with you. Call (03) 9125 8355 or send an enquiry.
When does a trustee company make sense?
A trustee company has real advantages, and for some people they are worth the fee. It suits someone with nobody they trust who is able and willing to act, or a family in which any relative named as executor would be attacked by the others. It suits a will that sets up a trust lasting many years, for young children or a beneficiary who will always need support, where continuity matters more than anything else. A company does not die, move overseas or fall out with your children, and administering estates is its ordinary business.
When is a lawyer and a family executor the better fit?
Most people have someone they trust, and most estates are best handled by that person with legal help when they need it. The will itself then has to be drafted around the facts, and that is where the real work lies. A second marriage with children from a first, a family business or company, a family trust, a large superannuation balance or a beneficiary receiving a disability pension all need advice about the assets a will controls and the ones it does not, because superannuation, property owned as joint tenants and family trust assets generally pass outside the will. Those conversations are what a lawyer is engaged for, and you keep the choice of executor in your own hands.
What if your will already names a trustee company?
There is nothing wrong with the will for that reason alone. Read the company's current fees and decide whether the arrangement still suits you. If it does not, and you still have capacity, you can make a new will appointing someone else, because a later will can revoke an earlier one, and a codicil can change the executor while leaving the rest of the will in place. Ask where your original will is kept, so that whoever drafts the new one knows exactly what is being replaced.
What does a will cost with us?
A single will is a fixed fee of $495 including GST, and covers a will leaving your estate to the people you name, with up to two specific gifts, your executors and a guardian for young children if you need one, one round of changes and a signing appointment at which it is signed and witnessed correctly. Wills for a couple are $880, and an estate plan with a will, an enduring power of attorney and an appointment of a medical treatment decision maker is $1,089 for one person, each including GST. Testamentary trust wills and anything outside those descriptions are set out on our fixed fees page, and anything else is confirmed in writing before substantive work begins.
Common questions
Does a trustee company have to be my executor if it prepares my will?
Not as a matter of law. You can name anyone you choose as executor, although a trustee company may offer its will service on the basis that it will be appointed, so ask about that before you start.
Can a family member be paid for acting as my executor?
Yes, in three ways: a clause in your will to which you gave written informed consent before you signed it, the informed consent of each beneficiary whose share would be reduced, or an order of the Supreme Court allowing commission. Without one of those, a family executor is not paid for their time.
Who checks whether an executor's fees are reasonable?
Anyone interested in the estate, such as a beneficiary, or a creditor can ask the Supreme Court to review commission or fees, and the court can reduce them or order them repaid if it finds them excessive. That power does not apply to State Trustees. A licensed trustee company's fees are also generally limited by the Corporations Act to its published schedule, apart from fees the will directs or that are agreed.
Can I change my executor later?
Yes, while you have capacity, by making a new will or a codicil that changes the appointment. A later will can revoke an earlier one, and either document must be signed and witnessed in the same way as a will.
Choosing who will prepare your will and who will administer your estate? Call (03) 9125 8355 or send an enquiry.
Sources: Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), sections 65, 65A, 65B, 65C, 65D and 65E; Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), sections 601RAC, 601TAA, 601TBB, 601TBD, 601TBE, 601TCA and 601TCB; Wills Act 1997 (Vic), sections 7 and 12.
This guide reflects the law applying in Victoria as at October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not take your circumstances into account.
