Getting a Grant of Probate in Ireland: The Executor's Path Through the Probate Office
A grant of probate is the High Court document that proves a will is valid and confirms the executor's authority to gather in and distribute a deceased person's estate. In Ireland you apply through the Probate Office (or a District Probate Registry) — either yourself as a personal applicant or through a solicitor — and the current waiting time from a lodged personal application to the grant issuing is roughly 10–12 weeks, plus around 3 weeks after your appointment.
Most executors hit the same wall in the same order: a bank says it can't release funds "until you have the grant," nobody is quite sure whether probate is even needed, and the words probate, administration and Statement of Affairs get used as if they mean the same thing. This guide walks the path in the order you'll actually live it — from "do I even need a grant?" through the SA.2 form, the oath, the personal-application route on courts.ie, the fee scale, and a real timeline with the things that quietly add weeks.
First question: do you even need a grant?
A grant of probate is not always required. Whether you need one depends on what the deceased owned and how they owned it — not on whether there's a will. Three situations commonly let you avoid a grant entirely:
1. Assets held jointly with right of survivorship
Where property or money is held by two people as joint tenants, the rule of survivorship applies: on the first death, the asset passes automatically to the surviving owner and does not form part of the estate that needs a grant. This is the classic case of a married couple who own their home and a joint current account jointly — the survivor typically needs only a death certificate, not probate, to have the asset put into their sole name. (Watch two traps: property held as tenants in common does not pass by survivorship, and a joint account opened only "for convenience" — for example an elderly parent and an adult child — may still be treated as part of the estate.) See Citizens Information: dealing with the deceased's estate.
2. Small estates and the bank "small-estates" procedure
If the only asset is a modest bank or credit-union balance, many financial institutions will release the funds without a grant under their own small-estates procedure, on production of a death certificate, ID and a signed indemnity from the next of kin. There is no single statutory figure — each institution sets its own ceiling, commonly in the region of €15,000–€25,000 — so you must ask the specific bank holding the money what its threshold is. Above that institution's limit, it will require the grant before releasing anything.
3. Nothing held in the sole name of the deceased
If everything the deceased owned was either jointly held (passing by survivorship) or within a bank's small-estates limit, a grant may not be needed at all. But if the deceased held even one asset in their sole name above the relevant threshold — a house in their name only, an An Post or investment account, a stake as tenant in common — a grant will usually be required to deal with it.
Margaret, a widow in Galway, dies in March 2026 leaving a will. Her son Cian is named executor. Her assets:
- Family home, €420,000 — held in her sole name (her late husband's share passed to her by survivorship years earlier)
- AIB savings account, €38,000 — sole name
- Credit union account, €9,500 — sole name
Cian rings the credit union: its small-estates limit is €15,000, so it agrees to release the €9,500 on a death cert and indemnity — no grant needed for that pot. But the house (€420,000, sole name) and the AIB account (€38,000, above AIB's threshold) are both in Margaret's sole name and well above any small-estate limit. Cian must extract a grant of probate to sell or transfer the house and to release the bank funds. Because there is a valid will naming him, the grant he applies for is a grant of probate — not letters of administration.
Probate vs letters of administration — they are not the same grant
Both are types of "Grant of Representation" — the umbrella legal authority to administer an estate — but you apply for a different one depending on whether there's a valid will and a willing executor.
| If… | The person is the… | And applies for… |
|---|---|---|
| There is a valid will naming an executor who will act | Executor | Grant of Probate |
| There is a will but no executor (none named, all have died, or all decline) | Administrator | Letters of Administration with Will Annexed |
| There is no will at all (intestacy) | Administrator | Letters of Administration (Intestate) |
The practical difference matters. An executor derives authority from the will and is usually first in line; the grant of probate "proves" the will — the Probate Office accepts it as valid. An administrator has no will appointing them, so the right to apply follows a legal order of priority (for intestacy, the order in the Succession Act 1965 — spouse/civil partner first, then children, and so on) and an administrator must usually provide a bond. Where there is no will, the estate is divided under the rules on intestacy rather than the deceased's wishes. See Citizens Information.
The three documents at the heart of the application
The will (and any codicils)
You lodge the original will and any codicils with the Probate Office. (When you first submit your personal application form you send photocopies, and bring the originals to your appointment.) The Probate Office examines the will for formal validity — proper signing and witnessing — before it can be "proved." If the will is lost, damaged, undated, or its validity is in dispute, you'll be steered toward using a solicitor.
The oath of executor
The oath (or affirmation) is the sworn document in which the executor confirms the deceased's details, that the will is the last valid will, and that they will faithfully administer the estate according to law and lodge an account if required. As a personal applicant you don't pre-swear it — you swear or affirm it at your appointment in front of the probate officer.
The Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 — and Revenue first, not the court first
This is the step that surprises most people: your first stop is Revenue, not the Probate Office. The Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 is the inventory of the deceased's assets and liabilities at the date of death, filed with Revenue. It replaced the old paper Inland Revenue Affidavit (Form CA24) and is required for anyone who died on or after 5 December 2001. Personal applicants can complete the SA.2 through Revenue's myAccount (solicitors and other intermediaries must use the electronic form via ROS). When Revenue accepts it, it issues a Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate) — and that Notice is what you bring to the Probate Office. See Revenue: Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2.
The SA.2 is also how Revenue links the estate to Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT). The grant itself doesn't charge tax — but the beneficiaries who inherit may have a separate CAT obligation (filed on a Form IT38) once their lifetime gifts/inheritances cross their group threshold. Probate and CAT are two different jobs; the SA.2 sits at the join between them.
Personal application vs using a solicitor
You can apply yourself (a "personal application") through the Probate Office or the appropriate District Probate Registry, or you can instruct a solicitor to do it for you.
Do it yourself if the estate is straightforward: a clear, valid will; an executor who is over 18 and resident; assets that are easy to value; and no disputes. The personal-application route is built for exactly this — the Probate Office guides personal applicants through it and you attend one appointment in person. Courts.ie sets out the personal-application steps at courts.ie: how to apply for probate.
Use a solicitor where any of these apply: the applicant is under 18, the will is lost or contested, there are minors or people lacking capacity among the beneficiaries, foreign-domiciled or cross-border assets, a business or farm with reliefs at stake, or an estate large or contentious enough that a mistake would be costly. Note that the court fee for an estate is the same regardless of size band whether you go personal or via solicitor on a like-for-like basis, but the schedules differ — the personal-applicant fee is generally higher than the solicitor-application court fee for the same band (the solicitor's own professional fee is separate and on top).
The court fees (Probate Office), current scale
These are the fees payable to the Courts Service for the grant. They are charged on the net value of the Irish estate, not the gross.
| Net value of estate | Personal application | Solicitor application |
|---|---|---|
| Up to €100,000 | €200 | €100 |
| €100,001 – €250,000 | €400 | €200 |
| €250,001 – €500,000 | €700 | €350 |
| €500,001 – €750,000 | €1,000 | €500 |
| €750,001 – €1,000,000 | €1,300 | €650 |
| Over €1,000,000 | +€800 per extra €500,000 (or part) | +€400 per extra €500,000 (or part) |
Source: courts.ie: probate fees. A second/duplicate grant (double, lapsed, unadministered or duplicate) carries a flat fee of €300. The solicitor's own professional fee is charged separately. Confirm current figures on courts.ie before you pay.
The timeline, from death to grant
Here's a realistic personal-applicant timeline. The slow parts are rarely the Probate Office itself — they're gathering valuations and getting the SA.2 right.
| Stage | Typical elapsed time | What can hold it up |
|---|---|---|
| Register the death & get the death certificate | Days to ~2 weeks | Coroner involvement (sudden/unexplained death) can delay the cert significantly |
| Find the will, list assets, get valuations | 4–10 weeks | Property valuations, share certs, pension/insurance confirmations, finding the will |
| Complete & file SA.2 with Revenue; get Notice of Acknowledgement | 1–3 weeks | Missing PPS numbers, asset values, prior-gift details for CAT |
| Lodge personal application with the Probate Office | — | Booking an appointment; queues vary by office |
| Wait for processing / appointment | ~10–12 weeks from lodging | Queries raised by the examiner ("raising a requisition") restart the clock |
| Attend appointment, swear the oath, pay the fee | One short visit | Bring originals (will, death cert, Notice of Acknowledgement) |
| Grant of Probate issues | ~3 weeks after appointment | Final checks; corrections if anything was off |
Processing times are from the courts.ie personal-application guide and move with the office's workload — check the current published waiting times before relying on them.
Back to Cian (Margaret's executor). Margaret died 10 March 2026.
- 20 March — death cert in hand; he locates the original will at her solicitor's.
- Mar–May — he gets a written valuation of the house (€420,000), date-of-death balances from AIB (€38,000) and the credit union (€9,500). The credit union releases its €9,500 under its small-estates procedure.
- 12 May — he files the SA.2 on Revenue myAccount. Net Irish estate ≈ €467,500 (the €9,500 already released still forms part of the estate for the SA.2 and the fee band). Revenue issues the Notice of Acknowledgement on 20 May.
- 26 May — he lodges the personal application (form + photocopy will + death cert + Notice) with the Probate Office.
- Late August — appointment ~12 weeks later; he swears the oath of executor and pays the fee. With a net estate of €467,500 he is in the €250,001–€500,000 band, so the personal-application court fee is €700 (a solicitor application would have been €350 in court fees, plus the solicitor's own bill).
- Mid-September — the grant of probate issues, ~3 weeks later. Only now can he sell the house and release the AIB funds.
From death to grant: just over six months — entirely normal, and most of it was valuations and the wait, not paperwork errors.
What quietly adds weeks (and how to dodge it)
- Requisitions. If the examiner spots an inconsistency, they "raise a requisition" — a query you must answer before they continue. Each round can add weeks. Accurate first-time figures are the single biggest time-saver.
- Wrong asset values on the SA.2. Use date-of-death values and keep the written confirmations; guessed numbers come back as requisitions and can affect CAT.
- Missing originals. Bring the original will and original death certificate to your appointment — copies won't do at that stage.
- Assuming probate isn't needed, then discovering a sole-name asset. Confirm how every asset was held before deciding you can skip the grant.
- Coroner cases. A sudden death referred to the coroner can delay the death certificate, which delays everything downstream.
- You need a grant when the deceased held assets in their sole name above a bank's small-estates limit; joint-tenant assets pass by survivorship and small balances may be released under a bank's own procedure (commonly ~€15k–€25k, set per institution).
- Grant of probate = valid will + acting executor. Letters of administration = no will, or a will with no executor (administrator applies, usually with a bond).
- File the SA.2 with Revenue first (it replaced the CA24, required for deaths on/after 5 Dec 2001). The Notice of Acknowledgement Revenue issues is what you take to the Probate Office.
- Personal applicants file the SA.2 via myAccount and swear the oath at their appointment; the personal-application court fee runs from €200 (up to €100k) to €1,300 (€750k–€1m), charged on the net Irish estate.
- Realistic timeline: roughly 10–12 weeks from lodging to appointment, plus ~3 weeks to the grant issuing — requisitions and valuations are what stretch it.
- The grant doesn't tax the estate; beneficiaries may owe CAT separately on an IT38 if they cross their group threshold.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a grant of probate take in Ireland?
For a personal application, the Probate Office guidance indicates a grant is usually issued about 10–12 weeks from the date the application is lodged, and then about 3 weeks after your appointment. Gathering valuations and filing the SA.2 happens before that, so the full journey from death to grant is commonly four to seven months. Requisitions (queries from the examiner) can extend it.
Do I always need a grant of probate?
No. If assets were held jointly as joint tenants they pass to the survivor by survivorship, and small bank or credit-union balances may be released under the institution's own small-estates procedure on a death certificate and indemnity. You generally need a grant only where the deceased held an asset in their sole name above the relevant threshold — for example a house in their name only, or an account above the bank's small-estates limit.
What is the difference between a grant of probate and letters of administration?
A grant of probate is issued to an executor named in a valid will and "proves" that will. Letters of administration are issued where there is no will (intestacy) or a will with no executor able or willing to act — to an administrator, whose right to apply follows a legal order of priority and who usually must provide a bond. Both are types of Grant of Representation.
What is the SA.2 form and do I file it before or after going to the Probate Office?
The Statement of Affairs (Probate) Form SA.2 is Revenue's inventory of the estate; it replaced the Inland Revenue Affidavit (CA24) and is required for deaths on or after 5 December 2001. You file it with Revenue first — personal applicants via myAccount — and Revenue issues a Notice of Acknowledgement (Probate). You then bring that Notice to the Probate Office. So: Revenue first, court second.
How much does a grant of probate cost without a solicitor?
The Courts Service fee for a personal application is charged on the net value of the Irish estate: €200 up to €100,000; €400 up to €250,000; €700 up to €500,000; €1,000 up to €750,000; €1,300 up to €1,000,000; and a further €800 for each €500,000 (or part) above €1,000,000. Solicitor-application court fees are lower per band, but the solicitor's own professional fee is separate. Always confirm current figures on courts.ie.
Can I do probate myself or do I need a solicitor?
You can apply yourself as a personal applicant where the estate is straightforward — a clear valid will, an executor over 18, easy-to-value assets and no disputes. A solicitor is advisable (and sometimes required) where the will is lost or contested, the applicant is under 18, there are minors or people lacking capacity, foreign or cross-border assets, or significant business/farm reliefs at stake.
Probate checklist for executors
A free, plain-English checklist: every document the Probate Office expects, the SA.2 fields people get wrong, and the order to do it all in.
You're on the list — we'll be in touch.