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A will that didn't need probate - can I make assumptions?

  • 22-11-2017 05:36PM
    #1
    BottleOfSmoke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83 ✭✭


    My question is about whether I can draw conclusions from a historical scenario.
    I was in the Probate Office for a search for a will from the 1990s. The search came back as "no record".
    I asked the young man if that meant the deceased did not make a will. I understood him to say that it was possible that there was a will, but probate wasn't needed, therefore it was not a public document.
    I tried to read up on this, but the articles seem to be for scenarios where the executor is also sole beneficiary of the simplest of wills.
    My question is: suppose the deceased had no property and little money, but made some small bequests e.g. 100 euro to my friend Mary + 100 euro to my brother John. Would the existence of such bequests automatically mean that probate must be sought, despite the small sums?
    I'm trying to figure out if I can conclude that if there was a will without probate, then there must have been no bequests to multiple individuals?


Comments

  • #2
    Ghekko
    Closed Accounts Posts: 942 ✭✭✭Ghekko


    Not all wills need to go to probate. If assets and monies were held jointly with spouse then probate isn't usually required. Similarly if bank account funds were under 25k (I think) then probate isn't necessarily required either. The bank can relaease funds once an indemnity is signed.


  • #3
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,278 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    For small estates/estates where the bulk of assets are held in joint names with a survivor there may be no practical need to take out a grant of probate. If in fact it's possible to deal with all the property of the deceased in the way he wanted without taking out a grant of probate, then you can go ahead and do that, and nobody will object, since they are all getting what they are entitle to. (A bit more, in fact, since the estate will not be depleted by the cost of taking out a grant of probate.)

    It's not usually the small bequests that give rise to a need for a grant of probate; it's the large assets. So the inference would be that either the deceased didn't own any large assets, or that any large assets which he did own were held in joint names with others who survived him. (Typically, that would be a spouse.)


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