Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 February 2017
27. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to reduce the length of time it currently takes for probate to be granted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7621/17]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, 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. Probate functions are also carried out by County Registrars at District Probate Registries in a number of provincial court offices.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the current waiting times in the Probate Office in Dublin for Grants of Representation are 20 weeks for applications lodged by a solicitor and 28 weeks for personal applications.
Where a person elects to apply for a Grant without the assistance of a solicitor the process requires significant support from the Probate Office and is more resource intensive. The Probate Office is actively involved in preparing the necessary paperwork and in servicing queries from the applicants by way of telephone, e-mail or post. Each personal applicant is required to attend at the Probate Office in person by prior appointment to complete the application process.
All applications for Grants of Representation in deceased persons' estates are made on foot of a number of mandatory legal documents which must be furnished by the applicants and these require detailed checking by the Probate Office to ensure that the estate of the deceased person is administered correctly and in accordance with the law. All applications are assessed on the basis of the date on which they are lodged, an approach which provides fairness and equity to all applicants. Priority is given to probate applications which display a particular urgency or where it is considered that extenuating circumstances so warrant. In such circumstances it is open to applicants to bring the matter to the attention of the Probate Office.
The Courts Service also informed me that there have been a number of staff changes in the Probate Office during the last year due to retirement and promotion and this has impacted on the waiting times. The examination of probate applications requires a thorough legal examination of documents and it takes a new staff member a period of at least six months to acquire a satisfactory knowledge in this area. As new staff members become more proficient, the waiting times will reduce.
The backlogs in the probate system are a cause for concern and review of the probate system is being carried out at present. It is anticipated that a report with recommendations for the modernisation of the process will be presented by mid 2017 to the Senior Management Team of the Courts Service and to the Courts Service Board for their consideration.
