Will & Inheritance for a relative

Saint Sonner

I have a friend who had an aunt sadly pass away about 2 months ago. She was next of kin as her Aunt didn't have anyone closer.

They don't know the solicitor or accountant involved personally as they did not live in the same area of Ireland. The relatives are now interested in hearing the will and traditionally where we are from about a month of so after someone dies family members and possibly others would be invited to hear the deceased wishes in the will.

However when the solicitor involved was contacted about the Will they said that they did not have a copy at the moment and that it would take months as they would have to apply for Probate. I have a little knowledge in the area but not a lot - I didn't think applying for probate would delay the reading of the Will and I was very surprised to hear the Solicitor did not have a copy.

Any one any thoughts on this or experience?

Jim_Hodge

We don't traditionally have a reading of the will in Ireland.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121664110#Comment_121664110

Meeting for a reading of the will only happens in movies - not in Ireland. You have to find out who the executor is and they then tell the beneficeries.

The solicitor will not engage with your friend on the matter if she is not an executor of the will.

Does your friend know that her aunt has definitely made a will?

Saint Sonner

Yes she definitely made a Will through that solicitor as she has significant assets - she had told that to the next of kin.

The executor is the deceased's accountant who was recommended through that Solicitor as they work through each other (if that is a correct term).

Next of Kin has borne significant funeral and other expenses and is just wondering if all is in order with the Will as was explained to her by her Aunt.

Obviously they know the process will take time but they where a bit worried that the will hasn't been communicated however that is done.

Deeec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121664902#Comment_121664902

Ok well if the accountant is the executor your friend needs to contact the accountant. Funeral expenses can be reimbursed and if the funeral director hasnt been paid yet the executor can arrange payment of same from the deceased ladies bank account. Other expenses incurred may have to wait until probate is obtained.

cml387

Be aware that probate can take up to a year.

The executor will meet with the beneficiaries, but not "others" who are not involved.

Peregrinus

As others have said, ritual reading aloud of the will is not a thing. Hasn't been for decades.

If you know who the executor is, you can write to him and ask him if you are a beneficiary under the will and, if so, to what extent. He should give you this information. He is not obliged to tell you whether anyone else is a beneficiary under the will, or to what exent. (He may tell you about other people's entitlements; this is going to become public information at some point. But he is not obliged to.)

If you think you are owed money by the estate (you paid funeral expenses; your aunt borrowed money from you before she died and didn't repay it; whatever) you should tell the executor this, since he has a duty to pay these amounts out of the estate, but he can't if he doesn't know about them.

As others have said, it may take some months before a grant of probate is actually obtained and, until that happens, the executor will likely pay out little or nothing. Once that does happen, the will is a public document — for a modest charge you can get a copy of it from the Probate Office and find out everything that's in it, if you care to.

Probably a good idea if you, or someone else from the family, indicates that you are keen for the administration of the estate to proceed as quickly as possible and that you are happy to assist in any way with answering queries, going through your aunt's records and papers to find relevant information, or whatever else might be helpful. This guy will be charging by the hour for the work he does as executor; the more work you or the family do the less he will charge the estate.

3DataModem

Just to reiterate the steps that other posters have given

Step 1: Someone unearths the will

Step 2: The Executor(s)'s listed in the will, obtain the will

Step 3: The Executor(s)'s listed in the will accept their responsibility (they don't have to). If not, then someone else applies to be Executor.

Step 4: Assuming you now have an Executor, they begin inventorying and establishing control of the assets, and protecting the assets (paying bills, maintaining insurance, normalising documents). They also pay the funeral expenses (or repay whomever paid them).

Step 5: The Executor applies for Probate.

Step 6: Once granted (which might take a long time), the Executor distributes the assets (that might involve selling them, which might take a long time), and the will becomes a public document.

Note

• The executor is helped usually by a solicitor and maybe an accountant, and they get paid from the estate.
• The executor does NOT get paid for their services.
• Nobody other than the executor is ENTITLED to see the will before it is probated. The beneficiaries should be kept appraised of how things are going during the process, but they have no entitlement to see the will.
• An executor can't start the process, then change their mind, without getting High Court approval.
• An executor who doesn't want to be an executor can step down at the start of the process.

3DataModem

"However when the solicitor involved was contacted about the Will they said that they did not have a copy at the moment and that it would take months as they would have to apply for Probate. I have a little knowledge in the area but not a lot - I didn't think applying for probate would delay the reading of the Will and I was very surprised to hear the Solicitor did not have a copy."

• So what they are saying is "none of your business, until we engage with the Executor, you have no rights to see the will yet".... because they cannot apply for probate without a will! So either they have it or they don't, but the solicitor cannot share it with you UNLESS they are the executor (which is possible, but unlikely).

i.e. you are expecting to see the will at step 1 above, but the solicitor is telling you to wait till step 6.