Probate in Ireland: Grants and the Process

The three main grants

Which grant issues depends on the paperwork the deceased left behind. Where there is a valid will naming an executor willing to act, the executor extracts a grant of probate. Where there is a will but no executor able or willing to act, a beneficiary, usually the residuary legatee, extracts letters of administration with the will annexed. Where there is no will, the estate is intestate and the nearest next of kin under the Succession Act 1965 order of priority extracts letters of administration intestate, generally with additional requirements that do not apply to executors.

Variants exist for the harder cases: grants limited to particular assets or purposes, grants de bonis non where a previous personal representative has died leaving the administration unfinished, and second grants in cross-border estates. These are dealt with on the non-resident and foreign estates page.

The application: papers, the SA.2 and the oath

Before any application, the personal representative must assemble the estate's full picture: the original will and any codicils, the death certificate, and a schedule of every asset and liability at the date of death with values, bank and credit union balances, land and buildings with professional valuations, farm stock and machinery, shares, insurance policies and debts. That information is filed with Revenue as the Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2, which generates the notice of acknowledgement the Probate Office requires; the tax dimensions of the SA.2 and of any inheritance tax arising are matters on which specialist tax advice should be obtained.

The application itself is grounded on the personal representative's oath or affirmation, the original will marked as an exhibit, and supporting documents that vary with the case: renunciations by executors not acting, affidavits of attesting witnesses where execution needs proof, current market value affidavits for land. Errors at this stage are the most common cause of delay: applications are queried and returned, and each rejection adds weeks.

Dublin or the District Probate Registry

Applications may be made through the Probate Office in Dublin or, where the deceased died with a fixed place of abode in the relevant district, through a District Probate Registry. For clients of this practice the relevant registry is generally the District Probate Registry at Kilkenny, and local practice familiarity, how queries are raised, what supporting proofs particular registrars expect, is one of the quiet advantages of using a solicitor who files there regularly. Waiting times in all registries vary through the year and should be checked at the time of application rather than assumed.

After the grant: administration

The grant is a beginning, not an end. The personal representative must then collect the assets, discharge the debts and expenses in their proper order, deal with any statutory notices, transfer or sell land including executing assents in favour of beneficiaries, and distribute the estate in accordance with the will or the intestacy rules, retaining accounts throughout. Personal representatives are generally allowed an executor's year before beneficiaries can compel distribution, but the duties of care run from the start, and personal liability attaches to getting them wrong. The estate administration page covers this phase in detail.