Executor checklist and probate organiser (Ireland)

The quick version

1. Keep every estate paper in one binder, split into the sections below.
2. Write down every date and deadline as it is set.
3. Record every payment into and out of the estate as it happens.
4. Keep a list of everyone you have told, with their reference numbers.

The first few weeks

Documents to gather

Gather these before you complete the SA.2 or meet your solicitor. Tick each one off as you find it.

Dates and deadlines to track

• Date of death
• Death registered (by law within 12 months)
• Will located (or no will)
• SA.2 filed with Revenue
• Probate application lodged
• Probate appointment
• Grant issued
• Distribution of the estate

Use the exact dates on the letters, forms and notices you receive.

How to section your binder

What this binder is for

Case Ready is a document organisation tool for executors and administrators. This edition is designed with reference to estate administration and the grant of representation in Ireland, using Courts Service, Revenue and HSE guidance.

• Keep the estate paperwork in one place
• Track deadlines and who you have told
• Keep clear accounts for the beneficiaries

What this binder is not

Case Ready:

• Does not provide legal or tax advice
• Does not value assets or work out tax
• Does not replace the instructions of the registry or court

If you need advice, speak to a solicitor, Citizens Information or, for debt worries, MABS.

The first few weeks

Register the death at a civil registration office. The law says within 12 months, but doing it sooner makes everything else easier. Registration is free.

• Bring the death notification form from the doctor, with Part 2 completed, and your photo ID.
• If the cause is unknown, the coroner may issue an interim certificate. It can close accounts and stop welfare payments.
• Tell the Department of Social Protection if the person received a State pension or other payment.
• Tell banks, credit unions, An Post Money, Ireland State Savings and pension administrators.
• Let Revenue know about the death, giving the date of death and your name and address.
• Contact each organisation yourself, starting with the ones in the checklist.

Your funeral director can place a death notice for you.

How probate works here

To deal with the estate you usually need a grant of representation. An executor named in the will applies for probate. Where there's no will, an administrator applies for letters of administration.

• Identify the assets and debts, and check for legal and tax issues early.
• File Revenue's Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 through myAccount or ROS.
• Revenue issues a Notice of Acknowledgement. Each applicant signs it.
• Send the application form, the Notice, the original death certificate and a photocopy of the will to the Probate Office.
• Attend your appointment, usually issued 10 to 12 weeks after you apply, and swear or affirm an oath.
• The grant is posted to you, usually within about 3 weeks of the appointment.
• Collect in the assets, pay the liabilities, then distribute.

A grant usually issues after upwards of three months, but it can take longer.

When you may not need a grant

To administer the estate you usually need a grant. For smaller amounts, banks may release money to the personal representative or next of kin at their discretion.

• Courts Service: a bank may not need a grant for a sole account under €20,000. Each bank sets its own standard.
• Each bank or institution sets its own rules, so ask what it will accept.
• Until a grant issues, you generally can't deal with the assets.

Ask each bank in writing what it needs before you decide whether to apply.

Tax

Revenue deals with income tax during administration and with inheritance tax for the people who receive. This organiser doesn't calculate tax.

• Income tax: pay at the standard rate on estate income, register the estate and file yearly returns until distribution.
• All estates are mandatory eFilers, according to Revenue.
• Capital gains tax: none on death. It may apply to a gain between the date of death and a later sale.
• Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is filed by the person receiving the inheritance, using the IT38.
• Check Revenue's current CAT thresholds and groups before you tell beneficiaries what to expect.
• Keep copies of the filed SA.2 and the signed Notice of Acknowledgement with your records.

Revenue's guide says personal representatives should settle tax up to the date of death.

When you need a solicitor

The Courts Service says you must use a solicitor in some cases. A solicitor is also worth asking if you have doubts about your role.

• The applicant is under 18, or is a ward of court or lacks capacity.
• The original will is lost, or its validity is in question.
• Next of kin dispute the estate.
• The person lived abroad and certain conditions apply.
• The applicant lives outside Ireland and beneficiaries other than the spouse inherit €20,000 or more.

A probate officer may ask for a solicitor in other cases too.

Terms used in this organiser

• Personal representative: the executor or administrator.
• Executor: named in the will. Administrator: appointed when there's no will or no executor.
• Grant of representation: the court's authority. Probate if there's a will, letters of administration if not.
• SA.2: Revenue's Statement of Affairs (Probate). Notice of Acknowledgement: Revenue's receipt for your application.
• CAT: Capital Acquisitions Tax on gifts and inheritances. PPSN: Personal Public Service Number.
• Estate: everything the person owned and owed at death.

The role of personal representative is described as lasting for life once accepted.

Who this is for and where to get help

Anyone dealing with an estate in Ireland. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. The UK nations have different rules, so use their editions.

• Citizens Information is the public information service for bereavement and social welfare questions.
• The Irish Hospice Foundation offers bereavement information and support.
• Samaritans and Pieta offer listening support, and Pieta helps after a death by suicide.
• MABS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, gives free help with debt worries.
• Courts Service and Revenue both have step-by-step probate guides online.

Helpline numbers change, so we haven't printed them. Find the current number on each organisation's website.

Before you apply for the grant

• Original will found, or confirmed there is no will
• Death registered and certificate to hand
• Personal representative(s) agreed and listed
• Assets and liabilities listed with values
• PPS numbers gathered for the person and beneficiaries
• SA.2 filed and Notice of Acknowledgement signed
• Photocopy of the will and any codicils made
• Solicitor needed? (check the Courts Service list)
• Executor's Log up to date