What happens if a new estate asset is discovered after probate is completed?
After my mother's estate was probated, her estate received an inheritance from another family member addressed to "the estate of (my mother's name)." Do we have to get a new probate grant?
Harvinder
It’s not uncommon for an executor to discover an asset of the deceased after a grant of probate has already been issued.
For example, this can happen where the deceased handled their banking or investments digitally. The executor might not even be aware that the deceased held accounts with a particular bank if online passwords were not shared with the executor.
Or, as here, a subsequent inheritance can come to light. Where someone has named the deceased as a beneficiary in their will, the gift may or may not form part of the deceased beneficiary’s estate. Generally, a newly discovered inheritance would only form part of the deceased beneficiary’s estate if they died after the will-maker. If you’re curious about what happens if a beneficiary dies before the will-maker, we answer that question here.
When a new estate asset is found, there’s no need to obtain a new grant of probate. But the existence of the newly discovered (or received) asset must be disclosed to the court.
The executor does this by filing a supplemental affidavit of assets and liabilities (form P14) with the court registry. Here, the executor needs to describe the asset and provide the asset’s value at the time the deceased died. They must also pay probate fees, based on the asset’s value at the date of death.
