Executor Of Will Delaying In Distributing Inheritance

My partner's uncle was deceased at the end of April 07 and my partner is a beneficiary in the will. The estate is to be divided up between 6 beneficiaries in total. A solicitor was appointed as the executor of the will and has been dealing with everything from the probate, to the selling of the house and the revenue. Last week we received a letter from the solicitor stating that she had received the Certificate of Discharge from Capital Acquisitions Tax from the revenue commissioners and was now waiting for the revenue commissioners to issue her with clearance to distribute the funds. I rang the revenue myself to get clarification on this, and the guy I spoke to seemed a bit taken aback with it, saying that once the revenue issue the certificate of discharge they do not have to do anything else and the solicitor should be able to distribute the funds. The solicitor had originally told us that once she received the certificate of discharge that she would be in a position to distribute the funds however now she is saying we have to wait for another letter.

Does anyone know what the normal procedure is in this scenario? Is it true that the solicitor has to wait for another letter from the revenue to distribute the funds? Or would she be stalling on it for any other reason? She previously told us that everything would be through by the middle – end of January, so things have already gone on 6 weeks longer than we originally expected.

There does not seem to be any undue delay and it may be that you have misunderstood what the solicitor said.

"She previously told us that everything would be through by the middle – end of January, so things have already gone on 6 weeks longer than we originally expected. "

I don't think a 6 week over run is very significant. Have you any reason to believe that there is anything sinister going on? If yes, have your partner contact the solicitor to ask for an explanation. Or contact the executor.

If no, then it does seem as if the estate is shortly to be distributed. Decide on a time frame and if the money is not received in that time, have your partner contact the solicitor for an explanation.

mf

Solicitors do request letters of clearance from Revenue. That letter is confirmation by Revenue that the deceased han no outstanding tax liabilities and that they (Revenue) have no objection to distribution of the estate. I have applied ( as accountant to deceased taxpayers) a number of times for such letters.

Separately, an estate totally administered and distributed in less than 12 months, is extremely good. That solicitor is fairly on the ball overall.

Thanks for the replies!

I dont think that there is anything sinister going on really. We are just unfamiliar with the whole process, and seemed to be getting conflicting information from the revenue and the solictor.

In relation to the letter of clearance, how long does it normally take for the revenue to respond to such a request?

There are two (at least) letters of clearance - one for the CAT and then for any income tax. In my experience the timescale is unpredictable. If any social welfare payments a cert of clearance is needed there too. Yes - everything done in 12 months sounds v quick!

You may have been given incorrect advice from the person in revenue, you should bear this in mind.

Kar said:

In relation to the letter of clearance, how long does it normally take for the revenue to respond to such a request?

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I have found that this can vary, but 3-6 weeks on average from my experiences. However, as mentioned above this can be unpredictable.