Probate Intestate - Going on a number of years

AnonProbate

Hi everyone,

I have a query about division of assets/the estate of someone who had no legal will made and how long it can take, if anyone can shed any light on it. My grandmother passed away in 2017 and she had made a will, but apparently she had written it herself, left it in her house and it was never legally witnessed and as such was deemed invalid. The division of her estate has been dragging on ever since then and I keep telling my mother to contact the solicitor to see what the story is but she maintains that she can't do that because she is not the eldest sibling or one of the named grantees.

I was reading another thread here today about a will and learned you could look up probate online, so I did that. It shows that probate was granted intestate in June of 2021, with the grantees listed as her eldest brother and her youngest brother. Neither of these brothers ever mentioned anything about this to her, or presumably the rest of the family, and to be honest I'm not 100% sure on what it actually means.

Is there anything my mother can do in order to try and speed up the process, or is it really just this slow when someone dies without a valid will? My grandmother wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination, so it's not about wanting to get her money or anything, we just find it ridiculous that it's taking this long and the two named grantees don't seem to be bothered about actually getting this done, without any thought for the rest of their siblings.

Not looking for legal advice of course, just wondering is this normal or abnormal, because we've never dealt with this kind of thing before.

3DataModem

If probate has been granted, then they have legal obligations to communicate and deal with all beneficiaries (obligations they are not able to declaim without a court order).

They did the work to get this far (not trivial by any means)... so ask yourself why would they not have communicated with your mother?

AnonProbate

Thanks so much for the reply. The family wouldn't be the closest, and the eldest brother is incredibly lazy at the best of times. I'm wondering, I know you can pay to get a copy of the grant, what exactly would be on that do you know? I had a look on the Citizens Information website and it just says it's the name and address of the executor/administrator and the name of the solicitor, if there is one. Is there anything else of note that is in it? I wouldn't mind paying to get a copy of it if it could be useful.

Peregrinus

It won't tell you anything you don't already know - your grandmother died, she didn't leave a (valid) will, two of her relatives have been appointed to administer the estate in accordance with the rules that apply when there is no will.

It's the administrators' job to deal with the estate. If they are not doing it, the appropriate response to to talk to them and, if that doesn't work, apply pressure. As in, get other family members on side; suggest to them that if they don't want to do the work they should stand down and let other family members take over, that kind of thing.

If the worst comes to the worst your mother can instruct her own solicitors and go all legal on them. But avoid that if at all possible; it will swallow up money and, while it will make things happen, it won't necessarily make them happen quickly.

AnonProbate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118487589#Comment_118487589

That's great, thank you so much for the information. I'll sit down with my mother this week and explain the situation and give her these suggestions. She gets on well with the youngest brother, so he should be easy enough to talk to about it.

lesfingal

Hello can anyone help with a probate qiestion please? The Probate Office rather pompous answering machine states current turnaround times are 8-10 weeks. However the grant of probate that's affecting my purchase of a property is now going on 23 weeks. I would appreciate any experiences, but please no replies offering me worst case scenarios. Many Thanks

SupaCat95

As much as these will-less estates are a mathematical problem. In the simplest of families is should be quick and easy and over in a year with the assets sold and divided. The shorter the time the cheaper and and better feeling all around. The less people giving input the better.

The problem is when you get slow moving executor or an aggrieved sibling who wants more than is their share to be divided. Then you have outside risks of squatter. Its best for all parties to wrap up as fast as possible. I know its tough being on the outside waiting for information, you cant ask incase you get your nosed bitten off or you risk losing being excluded from another will.

"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare." Sun Tzu