# Probate Experiences



## HankReardon (19 Aug 2009)

Hi, I was wondering if some of you could give me some guidence on probate. I'm wondering how long it takes for a will to go through Revenue & Probate. Did you use the regional or general probate office? Are the probate office closed now similar to the courts? Is there any way to move this along?


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## secman (19 Aug 2009)

Are you taking out probate yourself ?. If yes ring the Probate office in Dublin and get them to send you a Personal Application Form. Its relatively easy to complete. Simply return it and await a reply to state the current wating time, I am awaiting an appointment, the reply said current waiting time is 14/16 weeks. They are very helpful in the Probate office. On the day of the appoinment bring the original will, copies /proof of the relevant assets & liabilities. Also bring cash as the Probate tax to be paid cannot be paid by cheque, its not a huge sum, depends on value of estate ! On the same day the relevant duty form can be brought to Revenue in Dublin Castle to be stamped and then take it back to Probate office. The Grant of Probayte will then issue quite soon after.

I have done 2 so far and am working on the 3rd one.


Secman


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## HankReardon (20 Aug 2009)

Hi Secman, we have a solisitor doing it for us. We're just giving him a hand to get all the paperwork in order. And now that we're involved I was just wondering how long it takes to go through. I see you say you can go to the Revenue office the same day as probate. I was under the impression that it has to go to revenue first and this can take 3-4 weeks as they assess any valuations in the estate to verify that they are reasonable. Is this right from your experience?


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## secman (20 Aug 2009)

On the previous 2 occasions that I did it, we went to revenue on the same day and went for a coffee whislt we were waiting for the forms to be stamped by Revenue. We then went straight back to Probate office with the duly stamped forms.

Secman


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## HankReardon (20 Aug 2009)

Thanks secman. I know better where we stand we both the solisitor and probate now. 

Any other experiences out there?

This place is great.


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## doppler (20 Aug 2009)

I believe that the Inalnd Revenue treats applications via solicitors and executors differently.

An application via a solicitor to the inland Revenue is done by submitting an Inland Revenue Affidavit form and not in person. Once the Affidavit is delivered to the revenue it is processed and, if accepted, approved and returned to the solicitor to lodge in the Probate Office. Affidavit submission to approval took a little under four weeks in my experience. It was therefore quicker than waiting for an appointment for a personal application (14 weeks?).

I have been told to expect to wait six weeks for the Grant of Probate from the date papers were lodged at the probate office.


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## secman (20 Aug 2009)

The 14 weeks waiting time is for the appointment in the Probate Office, the visit to Revenue is not an issue, twice so far I have done the whole lot on the same day, appoinment with Probate Officer, form stamped in Revenue and back to Probate Office. My past experiences with solicitors would indicate 14 weeks to be quick !

Secman


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## HankReardon (21 Aug 2009)

Ok let me see if I have this right. 

If we bypass the solisitor Revenue can be done in a day. However, if the solisitor does it it can take up to four weeks. Once Revenue give it the ok we then process to the probate office. It takes 14 weeks to get an appointment and a futher 6 weeks for them to process the grant. Meaning that it takes 20 weeks to go through the probate office in total. 

If the solisitor went to the probate office do they need to make a similar appointment, to your knowledge lads?

Thanks.


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## ramble (23 Aug 2009)

Solicitors do not need an appointment at the probate office.  All papers are delivered by hand either by the solicitor himself or by a clerk on their behalf.  Papers are checked on the spot and queries raised at that point.  If papers are accepted it is currently taking about 3 weeks to issue the grant.

The role of a solicitor in the administration of an estate is not simply to obtain the grant of probate and the file is not closed as soon as the probate is obtained.  Included in the fee that a solicitor will charge is the collection of assets, preparing accounts, distribution to beneficiaries and ensuring all statutory obligations of the executor have been complied with.  Obtaining tax clearance for the executor and all beneficiaries and filing tax (income CGT and CAT returns) can also be part of the work of the solicitor.


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## sam h (23 Aug 2009)

As said, the solicitor does not go to the probate office.  I took out probate a few years ago & it was very straightforward - you go in & have a meeting with the probate officer & they will list out all the assets etc.  Once you & they are happy, you get some forms to go to Revenue & then back to the probate office - I did the whold thing in about 4 or 5 hours.

However, you probably need to check what agreement you have with with your solicitor as you may already be comitted to having them finish the whole thing for you.  You could ask them what would be the bill todate & what would it be if they completed it.  

My solicitor asked me to gather all the paperwork (which is the hard part) & to come back to him at that stage.  After doing all the donkey work, I checked out what would be involved to complete it myself and realised (as the estate was fairly straight forward) i could handle it myself.  Saved a packet (about €40k if I recall correctly).

If it likely there could be complications, I would stick with the solicitor, just make sure you know what you will be charged.


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## HankReardon (24 Aug 2009)

We're going to stick with our solicitor. Like you sam we've done the donkey work so far. The forms are being completed at the minute and will hopefully be sent in this week or next week. It's a straight forward transfer of assests and uncontested so I'm hoping fees will stay low. 

We were thinking it takes four months to get the grant, however if things move like you same ramble it should be granted a lot sooner. 

Thanks for replying and the insight.


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## Etna (31 Aug 2009)

I did the probate on both my parents estates, they had both made wills, and it was very easy.  The staff in the probate office are very helpful and was able to go to dublin castle immediately after to get the papers stamped.  No problem and cost nearly nothing.


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## sam h (1 Sep 2009)

> Like you sam we've done the donkey work so far. The forms are being completed at the minute and will hopefully be sent in this week or next week. It's a straight forward transfer of assests and uncontested so I'm hoping fees will stay low.


 
Only saw your reply now - I think you misunderstood me. The solicitor wanted me to do all the donkey work & then for him to extract probate and still charge me 2% of the estate. Tranfers of the house was etc. I did all the probate & saved about €10 for each of the sibling....though, have to admit, it is a thankless task!! I got a thank you & gift from one brother and nothing but hassle from the some of the rest. Silly things like property was overvalued/undervalued - depending on state of the property market & if we sell. A few grumbling about taking a small amount for expenses - typical, save them €10000 and someone tuts about taking €200 of that for legit expenses (expenses takes no account of the time & effort put in)

In the current market I probably could shop around and get a much better price from a solicitor (tbh-I didn't shop around at the time as it was a last minute decision once I had all the a/c's, letter etc pulled togeather and realised I could see it to the end as it was not a complex estate)

I'm still glad I did it for several reasons:
- good for the grieving process
- I was appointed executor & felt able to do it myself so happy I could carry out his wishes
- saved a packet


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