Wills and Probate

A Will, if created correctly, is a way of providing for your loved ones or other beneficiaries in accordance with your wishes. You can provide for your own funeral, guardianship of a child, distribution of shares or even the re-housing of a pet. You can also appoint your chosen executor to ensure that the will is executed as you wish and that the requirements of Probate are observed.

If you pass away without making a will your assets or estate will be divided in accordance with the Laws of Intestacy. Sometimes a family member or outside party can contest this process delaying the disposal of your estate and preventing someone who you may have wished to benefit from doing so. These laws sometimes fail take into account of newer family situations. For example cohabiting couples - Your partner may not inherit your home or anything else unless a legal provision is made for them through a Will.

As stated it is possible to make your own Will but be aware that there are certain formal requirements that must be followed to make it legal. Making a mistake in any of these can make the document invalid leading to misunderstandings and disputes after your death. This can be a very costly situation for your estate as it may require legal representation to sort out the problems. If you decide to do your own Will please do a lot of research and consider getting it checked out by a solicitor to ensure it is valid. A simple thing like having one of the witnesses as a beneficiary or failing to take account of all assets can cause issues.

After you have made a Will you can make changes to it at any time. For instance if circumstances change like a beneficiary passes away before you, you have had a divorce, you have new assets not provided for and so on. Again, there are formalities associated with this and you should be very aware of these or seek advice before making changes as a mistake at this stage can also invalidate you Will.

The executor has many responsibilities and often a Solicitor can assist to ensure that everything is carried out correctly.

Whether a will is present or not, the proposed executor or Solicitor can apply on the family's behalf to the Probate Office to obtain a Grant of Probate or Grant of Administration.

At a very simple level Probate involves two main areas. Firstly, the payment of all debts left by the deceased which includes identifying all assets (property deeds, bank accounts, cars, shares, pensions, previous inheritances et cetera) and making any relevant outstanding returns to the revenue. Secondly, the eventual transfer of all assets to the beneficiaries. All beneficiaries must be identified by the executor / Solicitor and all details from their addresses, occupations, PPS numbers and so on gathered as well as informing them of the obligations regarding inheritance tax and so on.

When you delve deeper into their obligations to the estate it is not as simple as you may think. The executor / Solicitor will have to deal with for example all the companies that the deceased was paying bill to, their bank, estate agents, valuers, pension providers and so on. It can take a lot of time and effort to gather this information. As a result the executor / solicitor is given 12 months to gather all of this together and get the paperwork in order. Following this, the potential beneficiaries can start to query why it is taking so long and even appoint their own representatives et cetera.

So if you have been made an executor and require assistance or if you simply want to be contacted in confidence by a Solicitor In Ireland Lawyer please fill out the appropriate forms  These will help us understand your requirements. Any information sent to us is strictly confidential.