Applying for probate in Ireland: grant, executor's duties, timelines

A child's claim under section 117 of the Succession Act 1965 must be brought within six months of the grant, so executors normally wait at least that long before distributing; personal representatives cannot be sued for failing to distribute within one year of the death (the executor's year). Claims by beneficiaries to their share are generally barred six years after the right to receive it arises.

1. Find the will and secure the estate. Search the deceased's papers and ask their solicitor, who often holds the original will. Only the original can be proved; a copy is accepted only on a court application. Read who is appointed executor and whether the will is signed at the end and witnessed by two people present at the same time, as section 78 requires. Register the death and obtain several death certificates. Tell the banks, the Department of Social Protection and insurers, and protect the house: insurance, heating, post. Do not distribute anything yet, even to close family.
2. Decide whether a grant is needed. Property held jointly passes to the surviving joint owner by survivorship and does not form part of the estate; in Martin v Horan [2026] IEHC 398 a house placed in joint names years before the will passed outside the will, and the family dispute had to be fought on other grounds. Some banks and credit unions release small balances without a grant, at their discretion. Land, houses, shares and most accounts held in the deceased's sole name need a grant. Pension death benefits and life policies may be payable directly to a nominee.
3. Work out who is entitled to apply. With a will, the named executor applies for probate; an executor who does not want to act can renounce. Without a will, the order of entitlement to letters of administration follows the Rules of the Superior Courts: the surviving spouse or civil partner first, then the children, then parents, brothers and sisters and so on. If an executor refuses to act or obstructs the estate, the High Court can pass him or her over under section 27(4), but the court requires special circumstances; in In re O'Farrell [2026] IEHC 328 it refused to remove an executor who undertook to extract the grant promptly.
4. List and value the assets and debts. Write to every bank, credit union, An Post, pension provider, insurer and stockbroker for the balance at the date of death. Get a written market valuation of any house or land. List the debts: mortgage, credit cards, utility bills, nursing home charges under the Fair Deal scheme, and funeral costs. Debts are paid before beneficiaries. Creditors have two years from the death to sue the estate (section 9 of the Civil Liability Act 1961), and an executor who distributes too early can be personally liable.
5. File the Statement of Affairs (Probate) with Revenue. Before applying for the grant you must file the Statement of Affairs (Probate), Form SA.2, online through myAccount or ROS. It replaced the old Inland Revenue Affidavit (Form CA24) and lists the assets, liabilities and every beneficiary with their share. Keep the acknowledgement; the Probate Office will not issue a grant without it. If you later find a material error, correct it with Revenue; the Finance Act 2025 extended the period for assessing executors where a correction is made.
6. Make the application. A solicitor can lodge the papers with the Probate Office or the District Probate Registry for the area where the deceased lived. You can also apply without a solicitor through the Personal Applications section of the Probate Office or a District Probate Registry. You will need the original will, the death certificate, the SA.2 acknowledgement and an oath sworn before the Probate Office or a commissioner. Letters of administration usually also require an administration bond from an insurance company. Court fees depend on the size of the estate; check the current Courts Service fee schedule.
7. Collect the assets and pay the debts. Once the grant issues, send certified copies to each bank and institution and close the accounts into an executor's account. Sell or transfer property as the will directs; for registered land, the executor registers the transfer or an assent with Tailte Éireann. Pay the funeral, debts, taxes of the deceased (including any final income tax return) and the administration costs. Keep a full account of every payment in and out, because beneficiaries are entitled to ask for it.
8. Deal with the spouse's legal right and section 117. A surviving spouse or civil partner is entitled to one-half of the estate if there are no children and one-third if there are children, regardless of the will (section 111). The executor must notify the spouse in writing; the spouse then has six months from that notice, or one year from the grant if later, to elect between the legacy and the legal right (section 115). Children may bring a section 117 claim within six months of the grant. In Doyle v Doyle [2026] IEHC 285 the High Court noted that specifically gifted land remained exposed to such a claim during that period.
9. Distribute the estate and close it. After the six-month period and once the debts are paid, distribute in accordance with the will or section 67, obtaining a signed receipt from each beneficiary. Remind beneficiaries that each must file their own Capital Acquisitions Tax return (Form IT38); you can retain funds until the tax is paid. Prepare final estate accounts. If a beneficiary disputes the distribution, take legal advice early: a beneficiary generally has six years from when the right to receive the share arose to bring a claim, as the High Court explained in Doyle v Doyle.

• Distributing within six months of the grant. If a child then succeeds in a section 117 claim, the executor may have to make good the shortfall personally.
• Ignoring the spouse's legal right. A will leaving everything to the children does not defeat a surviving spouse's one-third or one-half share, and the executor must formally notify the spouse of the right to elect.
• Assuming jointly owned property is in the estate. Joint accounts and jointly held houses usually pass by survivorship. Challenging such a transfer requires separate proceedings, often alleging undue influence, and can take years.
• Using the estate's money for your own purposes or mixing it with your own account. Executors are trustees; keep a separate executor's account and record every transaction.
• Delay. An executor who sits on an estate for years invites a section 27(4) application or a beneficiaries' action, and in a probate action the court will look at which side failed to take the required steps.
• Overlooking the Fair Deal charge. Where the deceased was in a nursing home under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, a deferred charge on the house must be repaid, usually within 12 months of the death, before the house can be sold.
• Filing an incomplete SA.2. Revenue relies on the list of beneficiaries in the statement; errors delay the grant and may lead to an assessment.

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Last updated: 03/11/2026 · Sources: Succession Act 1965 (ss. 27, 62, 67, 111, 115, 117), Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, Finance Act 2025, s. 90 – assessment of executors and administrators, Statute of Limitations 1957, s. 45 – claims to a share in an estate, irishstatutebook.ie, EUR-Lex

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