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Filing Your Application

All New Zealand probate applications are filed at the Wellington High Court, regardless of where the deceased lived or where the estate assets are located. Thames executors do not need a local lawyer. Simply Probate prepares the complete application remotely; you file with the Wellington High Court probate registry by post. One probate application covers all New Zealand real property in the estate — there is no need for separate applications for property in different locations.

Common Estate Types in Thames and the Coromandel

Thames is the gateway to the Coromandel Peninsula, and many Thames-area estates include a bach or holiday home somewhere on the Peninsula — Whitianga, Whangamatā, Coromandel township, Tairua, or Pauanui. This is a defining feature of Thames probate: multi-property estates where the deceased owned a main home in Thames (or another centre) and a Coromandel bach. One probate application covers all of these. The grant of probate authorises the executor to deal with all real property in the estate, regardless of where in New Zealand it is located.

Bay and beach properties on the Coromandel Peninsula often have complex access situations — private roads, easements for right of way, or paper roads. These are title matters that arise in the conveyancing after probate issues, not probate matters themselves. The access complexities are dealt with by the conveyancer handling the title transfer.

Horticultural land in the Thames Valley — avocados, citrus, and subtropical fruit in the sheltered inland valleys — is also a common estate asset in this area. Rural residential and lifestyle properties, and forestry interests in the Coromandel hinterland, round out the typical Thames estate asset picture.

Non-resident holiday home owners are common in the Coromandel — Auckland and Wellington families who own a Coromandel bach but live elsewhere. The executor's location does not affect which lawyer they use or where they file.

Historic gold mining titles are occasionally encountered in Thames-Coromandel estates. These are very unlikely to be active, but if a mining privilege or historical title interest appears in the deceased's papers or on a title search, it needs to be identified and dealt with. This is primarily a conveyancing matter post-grant, but we flag these interests in the probate application asset schedule if they are present.

Local Considerations for Thames and Coromandel Estates

The most common question from Thames executors is whether the Coromandel bach needs a separate probate application from the main home. It does not. One probate application covers all NZ real property — the main home, the Coromandel bach, and any other properties in the estate are all captured in the same application and the same grant. This saves significant time and cost compared to filing separately for each property.

For estates that include both a main residential property and a holiday property, we identify all real property in the asset schedule and the grant authorises the executor to deal with all of it.