Introduction Oftentimes when dealing with estates it is necessary or desirable to alter the bequests made in a will or the benefits that arise on intestacy. The methods of doing these tend to be deeds of family arrangement or deeds of disclaimer. However, at times some practitioners can blur the lines between the two or use the concepts somewhat interchangeably. They are however, distinctive tools in the armoury of the probate solicitor. In addition, there is also the option of using appropriation under s. 55. The nature of these blogs do not allow a detailed analysis of the three and we will ..read more

The latest update from the Principal Probate Register Anne Heenan is that e-probate will be part of probate practice over the coming years. What is e-probate? It is unclear what e-probate will be, but it appears that it will be a method by which the majority of forms that we use for probate will be submitted electronically to the probate office. It will be driven principally through Revenue systems. The main backbone of the system will be the SA.2. From the broad outline provided by Anne Heenan, the aim is to ensure that the information on the SA.2 will be brought over onto the E-Probate syste ..read more

Oftentimes when dealing with estates it is necessary or desirable to alter the bequests made in a will or the benefits that arise on intestacy. The methods of doing these tend to be deeds of family arrangement or deeds of disclaimer. However, at times some practitioners can blur the lines between the two or use the concepts somewhat interchangeably. They are however, distinctive tools in the armoury of the probate solicitor. The main defining distinction between a deed of disclaimer and a deed of family arrangement is that the deed of disclaimer can change the position as of the date of death ..read more

Just a quick reminder to some of key changes to the fair deal scheme which have come into effect over the last number of years Care Representative With the advent of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, the ability to appoint a care representative has been removed and now replaced with a DMR under the 2015 Act; Expanding the three-year cap The three-year cap applies not only to the applicant’s home, but also to the sale proceeds of the applicant’s home and also certain farms/businesses. For a farm/business to qualify for the three-year cap, the following conditions must apply The ..read more

Just a quick note to say that if you are submitting renunciations or powers of attorney with your oaths, its important that you replicate the title on these forms just as much as in the oath. Otherwise, your application will be queried. There is no clear indication that this is the position, because the main section related to renunciations under Order 79 is rule 38 which states 38. No person who renounces of a will or letters of administration of the estate of a deceased person, in one character, shall be allowed to obtain representation to the same deceased in another character, unless the C ..read more

Farm consolidation relief is a stamp duty relief. It applies where a farmer meets certain qualifying criteria and in particular where he sells a farm in one location for the purposes of buying a farm near to where the farmer is currently active. So a farmer could be farming in townland A and also has a farm in townland Z, 20 miles away. A parcel of land in townland B neighbouring the farm in townland A has come up for sale. The farmer decides to sell townland Z to buy townland B and thus bring the farm in townland B together with his/her farm in townland A into one holding. When the farmer buy ..read more

It is often the case that the name on a death certificate will differ from the name on a will. Spotting this difference is a small but important part of the overall probate process. It can be a reason for rejection of your papers. You must identify the deceased correctly in the oath. The rule is you cite the name as per the will and then cite the name on the death certificate if there is a difference. So it would appear in the oath as “Sean Smith (otherwise known as John Smith)” or “Sean Smith (in death certificate John Smith)”. Better to have this small point correct before issuing papers rat ..read more

Just when everything was going electric, now we are back to paper. So it seems with the Charities Regulator and the charitable bequest form. Where you have a charitable bequest in a will, you must notify the Charities Regulator. The form of notice to the Charities Regulator was also notified to the Probate Office at the time of applying for the grant. It used to be a paper-based system until about 4 years ago or so. Compared to the digital-first strategy of the Decision Support System, the electronic system introduced by the Charities Regulator was a walk in the park. It was similar to and see ..read more

An important part of the clearance steps in an estate is ensuring that one obtains on file a letter from the Department of Social Protection confirming that the Department has no claim on an estate. This blog is a helpful refresher for solicitors on this point or a good entry point for junior solicitors or junior probate administrative staff working on probate. The Initial Steps At the start of any probate case it is important to write to the Department of Social Protection informing the Department of the death of the deceased. The address to use is as follows:- Pension Services Office, Depart ..read more

We would have previously blogged on this site about the income tax clearance procedure and the steps to take to deal with this. How to deal with the procedure is set out in the Revenue manual, a link to which is set out below. What is not mentioned on the manual and to the frustration of many solicitors is that in fact Revenue prefer for applications for income tax clearance to be made through a TAIN account. In the view of Revenue it is best to make the application after the deceased has been linked to a TAIN account. However, you would need to be inspired to know this, as it is not mentioned ..read more