Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2013
515. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is more than 70% failure rate for probate applications submitted by solicitors to the probate sections of the Courts Service; if he is reviewing the high failure rate and the operation of the current probate system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2948/13]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, probate is a legal process whereby a grant of representation is issued by the High Court Probate Office or District Probate Registry in respect of a deceased person's estate. The grant of representation gives legal authority to a person or persons to access the estate and administer it in accordance with the law. The Probate Office is an office of the High Court and management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998.
In order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that approximately 90% of persons seeking grants of representation are represented by solicitors who prepare the necessary legal documentation. Mandatory legal requirements must be met in respect of the applications and the Probate Office or District Registry examines such documentation to ensure compliance with legal and procedural requirements. The Courts Service has confirmed that documentation in over 70% of these cases is non-compliant and applications cannot be accepted until the various enquiries have been addressed. This inevitably contributes to delays for applicants and is a matter that can best be addressed by the persons submitting probate applications taking the time to ensure that documentation submitted complies with the requirements.
Examples of the reasons for rejection of papers include:
- legal entitlement to grant not established in the oath which the applicant swears to ground the application,
- documents not correctly exhibited in the oath
- documents not properly sworn,
- incorrect documents sworn to ground the application, and
- pertinent information omitted from the documents.
I have no plans at present to review the present system. However, the Courts Service has confirmed to me that the quality of initial applications has repeatedly been brought to the attention of legal practitioners. In order to promote higher quality, the Probate Office has:
- prepared checklists for practitioners,
- published guidance for completion of documentation on the Courts Service website,
- given lectures and tutorials to practitioners in the Law Society and to various Solicitors' Bar Associations,
- provided a facility whereby the Probate Officer will meet with Solicitors who are handling complex Probate cases, and
- held user group meetings where problems are highlighted.
