# Waiting times for probate office Dublin?



## cms (27 May 2016)

Does anyone know what the current waiting time to get an appointment for the probate office in Dublin is? I'm hoping to do a personal application but my solicitor is telling me he can do the probate much faster (and charge me a lot more!). 
Once I attend the appointment how long til the grant is issued?


----------



## elcato (27 May 2016)

I'm not sure of the waiting period but your solicitor is correct in that they get preference and they will get it right the first time so they will be a lot faster. Time has a price although probably quite a high one for this situation.


----------



## Thirsty (27 May 2016)

Probate office will tell you current waiting times. In my case (2 years ago now) they were guiding 6 months and it took 5 months in the end.


----------



## cms (1 Jun 2016)

I just heard back from the probate office. It's currently 24-26 weeks to assess the application and only then will they give an appointment date. They didn't say how long that might be. 
How fast could a solicitor get an application assessed?


----------



## Steven Barrett (1 Jun 2016)

You need to slow down. Probate takes a while, you can be looking at a year for the process to be completed. 

Get a solicitor and get them to do it for you. You are paying for their experience in these matters. What will probably be a lot of work done with uncertainty is bread and butter to them. Could save you months. 


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


----------



## Thirsty (2 Jun 2016)

> they will get it right the first time


Ahem, I got it 'right first time'! 

DIY Probate is quite doable, but certain conditions apply.  There's quite a good thread here on DIY which I and many others contributed to.  

90% of the work is done by you as executor/close family anyway.  Your Solicitor isn't going to sort through old clothes, files/paperwork, apply for Death Cert, clean up the house, organise the funeral etc., etc.,  

I found doing the probate quite a positive experience, but you do need to have a head for paperwork and be methodically minded.


----------



## Fisherman (18 Jul 2016)

My daughter is interested in buying a house which is in probate. The Estate Agent has told her that Probate wont be a problem as the probate office say once sale contracts are signed probate will be expedited and completed in 1 week.     Sounds like BS to me. Any comments


----------



## mr grumpy (27 Jul 2016)

I have been told by a Dublin solicitor that it should be completed in 4 months.... Here's hoping!


----------



## Ccull123 (23 Oct 2016)

Fisherman said:


> My daughter is interested in buying a house which is in probate. The Estate Agent has told her that Probate wont be a problem as the probate office say once sale contracts are signed probate will be expedited and completed in 1 week.     Sounds like BS to me. Any comments



Fins myself in a similar position. Can i ask how long did probate take?


----------



## JohnJay (23 Oct 2016)

I cant find the thread, but I am sure that a solicitor (MF1?) on here said that the probate office no longer speeds up the process of probate if you have a contract signed or not.

edit: remember that the sale process is painfully slow, even without probate. I am currently in the process of selling and buying and its taking much longer than I thought. So the probate might be at its natural end by the time everything else comes through.The house I am buying is also in probate, but I think it will be out of probate by the time I get contracts signed. 

What I have learned so far in this process: Solicitors do everything at their own slow pace. They communicate to each other by letter only and take their time opening their post.


----------



## Fisherman (24 Oct 2016)

Ccull123 said:


> Fins myself in a similar position. Can i ask how long did probate take?



WRT my daughter's house purchase... she went ahead and bought the house.... signed relevant contracts in July and has been informed (mid Oct) the probate has completed and she will be in the house by November. She took a chance on the probate, I think the house had been in probate for a month or two before she placed her offer. There was no special progress applied to the probate .


----------



## Prosper (24 Oct 2016)

I was in the Probate Office today to get the forms to fill and so start the process of applying for Grant of Probate without using a solicitor. I was told that the waiting time for an appointment was 6 months from when they receive the correctly completed forms (CA24) and a further 5 months after that before Grant of Probate. I asked them about putting the house up for sale before GOP and would this shorten the process. The clear answer is no. The implication was that in the past a sale agreed on the property would expedite GOP but that they have taken a decision to discourage it now. I asked if I used a solicitor to handle the GOP application would speed things up and again it appears not to be the case where the estate is simple. So as a result I'm not going to put the house on the market until GOP or until I get a clear indication that it's imminent.


----------



## GarethJ (26 Mar 2017)

Hi I'm trying to help my mother in-law with grant of probate, its a simple estate however I'm struggling with how to get a commissioner of oaths to counter sign, as solicitor quoted far to much to do complete the GOP and Dublin office offered no help.

@Thirsty you suggested there was a good forum on DIY which you contributed to, could you share the link please, I can't find it.


----------



## Mags0709 (28 Mar 2017)

I was wondering what the deadlines for the Cork office were?


11 months from application to probate as above just seems crazy! This potentially delays CAT payments for the Government.


How complicated can it be?


----------



## Thirsty (29 Mar 2017)

garethj - I tried doing a search and I couldn't find it - its from about 2 years ago and Brendan started it.  It would be great if it could be pinned as it was a very useful thread.


----------



## elcato (29 Mar 2017)

@Prosper. Our solicitor got GOP within 6 weeks of contract signed by buyer in Dublin. What they say to the man on the street will differ but provided you use a solicitor. I can understand where they are coming from. A solicitor knows what exactly to provide and gets everything right first time round. It would just turn into a chaotic process like damn supermarket queue if they let the masses start doing it themselves.


----------



## Prosper (30 Mar 2017)

I'm with Thirsty on this. If the estate is pretty simple i.e. house plus savings/investments then do it yourself if you're an organised type and you have the time and patience for it. I believe doing a personal application will achieve Grant of Probate faster than a solicitor. You're going to have to do the donkey work anyway regardless and if you're doing a personal application you will be more proactive. If  a house is involved then I'm pretty sure from hearing the experiences of others, that if you have contracts signed then the Probate Office will fastrack your application. So while it might take 6 months to get the call for the appointment, GOP can issue within weeks in that situation.


----------



## GarethJ (31 Mar 2017)

Thanks for checking thirsty, im trying to compete a simple GOP but stuck at the sage to get the signature witnessed, will a solicitor witness a signature only or any idea how to get a court clerk or commissioner of oaths to witness? Dublin office provided no help or guidance. I'm at the stage we've done so much I'm loathed to pay a solicitor.

Any suggestions?


----------



## Keogh77 (10 May 2017)

I contacted the Dublin probate office via email and received a response this week that waiting times for personal  applicants are now 7-8 months, with solicitor waiting times approximately half that. I'm not sure whether that is waiting time from submitting application to receiving appointment or to receiving grant, they did not answer the question put them. Either way it is too long. I'm looking after a cross border estate and I foolishly presumed that probate in ROI could be extracted within a reasonable timeframe. It took 6 week in the North from submitting the tax paperwork to receiving the grant via the Belfast probate registry. This is for an estate that contained multiple assets. I guess it may be a case of apples and oranges!


----------



## Thirsty (10 May 2017)

Once you have your appointment/meeting (and assuming everything is in order), the actual grant was in my hand in less than 2 weeks.


----------

