Wills – McGrath Mullan Solicitors Dublin

Wills and a Child’s Entitlements

Hannah Clinton — Mon, 12 May 2025 07:26:22 +0000

Under Irish succession law, a child is not automatically entitled to benefit under a parent’s will. If a parent wants to disinherit a child or children they are perfectly entitled to do so.

However, after death, a child can make a claim to the court under section 117 of the Succession Act 1965 seeking a share of the parent’s estate on the following grounds:

The parent ‘has failed in his moral duty to make proper provision for the child in accordance with his means’.

In considering section 117 claims, a court will consider the entirety of the parent’s affairs. Certain criteria to consider were set out by Court in 2003 in ‘In the Estate of ABC deceased XC, YC & ZC v RT, KU & JL [2003]’ which include:

Is the child of an age and situation in life where they may reasonably expect support from their parent;
Did the parent owe a moral duty to provide for the child, and did he in fact fail that duty;
Has the parent made provision for expensive education or other gifts, which would discharge the moral obligation;
‘Proper provision’ is to provide within the parent’s means – but this does not mean it must be adequate;
Has the child an exceptional talent that should be fostered;
Has the child a physical or mental disability;
Has the child worked, for example, on the parents farm, and lived with the assumption it would ultimately be his;

Although a court has very wide powers to make provision for an applicant child, it cannot in effect make a new will for the parent.

Any claim must be brought within 6 months of a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Probate with Will Annexed issuing from the Probate Office. There is no need for the personal representative to notify any child of their entitlements to bring such a claim.

For more information on children’s entitlements contact Hannah Clinton. Please get in touch with McGrath Mullan info@mcrgrathmullan.ie or call us here +353 (0) 1 873 5012 .

For more Probate resources from McGrath Mullan

Wills and a Spouse’s Legal Right Share

Julie Mullan — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 09:40:38 +0000

The Succession Act 1965 provides a spouse with some protection if they are disinherited or left less than they may have expected under a will.

Under the provisions of Section 111 of the Act, where a deceased has left a will, regardless of the terms of it, a spouse is automatically entitled to half of a deceased’s estate where there are no children and 1/3 of the estate where there are children.

In the event that a spouse is left less than the legal right share in a deceased’s will, he or she can elect to take the legal right share in place of the bequest under the will.

It may also be possible to take the family home in satisfaction of this legal right share.

The executor is obliged to inform the spouse of this entitlement and strict time limits apply. If you have any questions about a Legal Right Share please contact Julie Mullan. info@mcgrathmullan.ie

More legal articles on probate from McGrath Mullan:

Irish Grant of Probate, foreign domicile.

Julie Mullan — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:50:33 +0000

More and more, we are receiving inquiries from lawyers in other countries seeking assistance in extracting Grants of Probate for people who have died domiciled in other countries, but who have left assets in Ireland.

With so many ex-patriots throughout the world, this is not surprising, with holiday homes, Euro bank accounts and shares being the most common assets.

In assessing the steps involved, consideration has to be given to how the relevant country of domicile’ probate legislation compares with ours and the language of the country. Applications can be tricky, not least because resources within the Probate Office do not allow for pre-approval of applications or admissibility of, for example, an Affidavit of Law. Nonetheless, we can navigate applications successfully and quickly.

By far the most common application is from the UK, but we have also dealt with applications where the deceased died domiciled in USA, Canada, South Africa, Germany and China.

We can help in advising the applicants of the necessary legal proofs, assisting with obtaining PPS (tax) numbers for deceased persons and beneficiaries and drafting and submitting the Probate applications,

For assistance or inquiry, contact Julie Mullan, info@mcgrathmullan.ie.