I stumbled across an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald recently.[1] The article recounts the case of the late Margaret Greaves, who had her Will prepared ‘for free’ by the NSW Trustee and Guardian. Her Will was relatively straight forward and she bequeathed all assets to her son, Tony.
When Margaret died in December 2005, Tony was shocked to learn that his mother’s estate would be charged more than a staggering $56,000 in administration and commission fees. (Yikes!)
The majority cost of those fees related to Margaret’s Sydney home. Its value had surged along with the property boom, triggering a commission of over $52,000, payable to the NSW Trustee and Guardian. There were also additional charges on cash and personal assets.
When Margaret went to see the NSW Trustee and Guardian all those years ago, she likely thought she was doing a sensible thing by planning her estate in what possibly had appeared to her as a straight-forward, cost-effective option.
But what she may not have grasped at the time was that by appointing the government body as the executor of her will, she would also be locking in a fee structure tied to the future value of her estate – something that would grow significantly over time.
Margaret may well have misunderstood the long‑term financial implications of her estate planning decision, particularly with regards to how executor fees are calculated.
According to The NSW Trustee and Guardian – their fees are lawful, transparent, and reflect the cost of professional estate administration. But the model seems poorly understood by many of the people it seeks to engage – who are often older Australians – and doesn’t appear to account for how decades of asset growth can turn a ‘free’ will into a very expensive legacy.
The take away? The cost of a will is often insignificant compared to the cost of administering an estate.
It pays to be wary of ‘free’ will services – especially those that require appointing an institutional executor – which can result in large, percentage‑based fees that grow as assets appreciate.
Remember – whatever way you approach estate planning – it’s important to be clear about who is named as executor, how fees are calculated, and what those fees could look like in dollar terms in the future.
Proper estate planning, including coordinated legal and financial advice, is not about minimising upfront costs – it’s about protecting wealth and avoiding unintended outcomes for beneficiaries.
If you need help planning your estate, call us on 02 9913 9995.
[1] Schultz A (March 2026) ‘’Free’ government bequest service to cost man $56,000’, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 March 2026)
