We are often approached by beneficiaries of estates inquiring about their rights when the Legal Personal Representative of a deceased person is refusing or delaying to take steps to extract a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration.
In such cases a beneficiary can issue a Citation in the High Court Probate Office requiring the Legal Personal Representative to either prove the will or, if there is no will, to extract a Grant of Letters of Administration.
In order to issue the citation, the beneficiary would need to swear an affidavit setting out the facts and the efforts made by the beneficiary to contact the Legal Personal Representative to get them to act. If the Probate Officer is satisfied, an order is made to issue a Citation. The original Citation is then served personally on the Legal Personal Representative who has 8 days to enter an appearance. If they do not they are deemed to have renounced their entitlement to extract a grant. In that event an Administrator is identified who can extract a Grant of Letters of Administration and administer the estate.
NOTE No court proceedings can be brought against an executor by a beneficiary without leave of the court until 1 year after the date of death. This year is known as the Executor’s Year.
For more information on Administration of Estates please contact McGrath Mullan now. info@mcgrathmullan.ie or +353 (0) 1 873 5012
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