Statement of affairs form - can I submit on behalf of my mother who is the applicant?

[Jeffrey123]

Wondering if anyone who has been through probate process could advise - my father died without a will so we are applying for a grant of administration. My mother needs to be the sole applicant under the rules when there is no will, originally I had thought I could apply with her (thought I read it somewhere that she could have a family member apply with her but I can't find it now!) but the probate office have confirmed that's not the case and asked us to resubmit the forms with just her name. That's all fine except that I had done the statement of affairs form through my own revenue account. I can amend this to remove me as an applicant and have only my mother listed but it still then includes my information as the 'Contact details for lodging solicitor/applicant in person'. I assume it is taking my information directly from myaccount as I haven't explicitly input it on the form. As I had already submitted the form before I can't delete it now (for example to set my mam up with her own revenue account to do it instead - and I am guessing we can't have duplicate forms on both of our accounts for my dad) - it can only be amended but I can't edit this particular part.

I'm wondering now if this will cause an issue with the probate office. I can't ring them to ask as the letter we received says they don't take phone calls! And they took 6+ weeks to respond to the original application we submitted to say it needs to be resubmitted - so I don't want to have to wait ages again for them to come back to tell me they won't accept the form with Mam as the applicant but with my contact details.

I have submitted an enquiry to revenue and will try ring them tomorrow as well if I can get through to the right department. In the meantime just thought I would ask here in case anyone knows!

 

[Curlywurly]

Condolences on the death of your father Jeffrey. My understanding is that you can make the application to extract the Grant of Letters of Administration Intestate jointly with your mother with her written consent or solely if your mother completes a Form of Renunciation.

The Rules concerning who can take out the Grant of Administration Intestate are set out in order of priority in the Rules of the Superior Courts 1986 Order 79 Rule 5. In your case Rule 5 (1) (b) could be applied " The surviving spouse jointly with a child of the deceased NOMINATED by said spouse" My understanding is that the spouse is required to write & sign a letter to the Probate Officer confirming her relationship to the deceased and nominating or consenting to AB son / daughter of the deceased CD to extract the Grant jointly with her. Of course the spouse must be of sound mind to do this. This letter should then accompany the application to the Probate office with a covering letter asking for the Probate Officer's permission to make this joint application. All required documents for Revenue & Probate Office should be completed in Joint names. Both applicants would then be responsible for administering the Estate of your late father.

The other option that could be applied is for the spouse (your mother) to renounce her rights to extract the Grant of Letters of Administration. A Form of Renunciation should be completed and signed by the spouse in the presence of an independent witness. (Not you ) She would then NOT be able to take any part in the administration of the estate of your late father but would still be entitled to inherit her 2/3 share of the estate.
Any of the children would then be entitled to extract the Grant of Letters of Admin. All required documents should be completed in the name of the child/children who wants to extract the Grant. The Probate Personal Applications Section should be able to forward you a Form of Renunciation of Letters of Administration. Or there is a precedent Form of Renunciation of Letters of Administration available on the Courts Website which you can download.

The above certainly applied a few years ago. The usual reason for using either of the above methods is that the spouse may be elderly and/or not in good health and / or may find the entire process too taxing. I copied the info below from the Courts website re the Dublin Probate Office. . The General Probate Office Dublin should be able to assist you regarding the Personal Application. I cannot help you with the Revenue internal processes.

Please note as and from Monday 29th April 2024 the Probate General Office and the Probate Rules Office will re-open to the public from 10am to 1pm Monday to Friday.​

Contact Us​

Probate Office
Address: 1st Floor, Phoenix House, 15/24 Phoenix Street North, Smithfield, Dublin 7. D07 X028
Phone: +353 1 888 6174
Email: ProbateGeneralOffice@courts.ie