Case Study of a Difficult Estate

Probate Facts

Clients resided in the UK – attended at the office to query property located in Ireland to which their late father had an interest. The property was registered to a life tenant and thereafter to their late father. The life tenant, their aunt, recently passed away which meant the property then fell to their father’s estate. Their father died Testate (with a UK will in place) in 2001 leaving his estate to his wife. His wife also died Testate (with a Will) in 2014 leaving everything to their two children (clients) if spouse pre-deceased. The property was an old County Council dwelling house and held under a long leasehold title – the person(s) entitled to the property were entitled to the freehold interest in the property from the Local Authority.

The clients wished to sell the dwelling house and acquire the freehold interest outright. In order to do so the title to the property needed to be vested in them and therefore appropriate steps needed to be taken to extract the Grant of Administration in the Estate of their late father.

Steps taken and issues to be addressed

First, they needed to pick up a copy of the Death Certificate of their late aunt in order to remove the life interest from the title in the Land Registry.

A Sealed and Certified copy of the last Will and Testament and Grant of Probate extracted in the UK was obtained from the Probate Office in the UK. This document was required in order to establish the Executors named in the Will/persons who extracted the Grant. This information was also required in order to establish the persons entitled to Extract the Irish Grant.

Difficulties Encountered

The last Will and testament specifically named two named individuals, being the partners of a specific law firm in the UK as the nominated executors, one of which was now deceased and the other long since retired from the law firm in the UK. We needed to establish from the law firm in the UK the current whereabouts and address for their retired partner in order to correspond with him regarding the administration of the Irish estate. The executor was located, and the Probate papers were drafted and forwarded to the executor in the UK for execution in the presence of a practising solicitor in the UK.

Additional matters to be addressed

Clients were non-resident beneficiaries/vendors and therefore required an application to Client Identity Services in order to procure Irish PPS numbers for the purposes of the Probate application and the subsequent sale of the property.

The Local Authority were then provided with a sealed and certified copy of the Irish Grant of Probate from the Probate Office once issued together with a copy of the same Deed of Assents/transfer of the property to the beneficiaries as proof of the persons entitled to the ownership of the property and therefore the issuing of the freehold interest. The vesting certificate transfer order/vesting certificate which issued from the Local Authority transferring the freehold interest in the property to the late aunt could now be amended in favour of the beneficiaries.