Will probate be needed?

[shoppergal]

Just looking for some opinions as to whether probate will be needed in this situation.

My father is terminally ill. His home is jointly owned with my mother. They have an English bank account and an Irish bank account, both in joint names, neither account has more than €1500 in it. They receive a mixture of UK and Irish state and private pensions, total value is just over €2000 per month. They have no savings. There is a life insurance policy assigned to my mother that will pay out approximately €28,000.
The will leaves everything to my mother except for a total of €5000 which is to be divided among 4 siblings. Only other asset is a car which is in his name and worth less than €1000 as well as a credit union account in his name with a few hundred euro. Would probate be needed in this instance?

Also, none of us children want to take the money that is being left to us. Is it an option for us to just decline it or would we need to accept it and then gift it back?

 

[Up Rovers]

Sorry to hear of your father's illness.

Unfortunately I can't answer your question about the probate but worth your while to check out anything that they will qualify for with his credit union account and who he has his funds nominated to. Some of the credit unions have raised the qualifying levels for certain cover so best to have a look online and see what that amount is as some of them have gone to a few hundred or pay a fee per year to purchase same. He may have death benefit insurance also with his membership.

 

[shoppergal]

Sorry to hear of your father's illness.

Unfortunately I can't answer your question about the probate but worth your while to check out anything that they will qualify for with his credit union account and who he has his funds nominated to. Some of the credit unions have raised the qualifying levels for certain cover so best to have a look online and see what that amount is as some of them have gone to a few hundred or pay a fee per year to purchase same. He may have death benefit insurance also with his membership.

Thanks Up Rover's. Qualifying amount is €500 which is more than he has in there and unfortunately he's no longer well enough to go and lodge anything in. I need to check if I can lodge on his behalf.

Anyone know about the probate question?

 

[Up Rovers]

Qualifying amount is €500 which is more than he has in there and unfortunately he's no longer well enough to go and lodge anything in. I need to check if I can lodge on his behalf.

Best to do the lodgement and there should not be a problem with you doing same. I have lodged money to both of my parent's accounts without a problem. With so many elderly people staying at home because of Covid it should not be a problem.

 

[Curlywurly]

Sorry to hear of your father’s illness.
You should not need Probate for the joint assets as they should pass on survivorship to your mother. The Insurance Company will determine what they require in order to pay out on the policy. You could ring their legal dept to ascertain whether it will automatically be paid out if already assigned to your mother. Some joint policies cannot be transferred to the name of the other joint holder without Probate. It’s the Insurance Company who make the rules though. If you manage to get benefit insurance from Credit Union you won’t need Probate for that - they will pay it towards funeral bill or pay out on small estates value.
Hopefully you will not need to go through all the extra hassle or expense of Probate. If you do it seems very straightforward so a personal application may suit you and be less costly. All details on www.courts.ie.
Best of luck going forward and PG your father won’t suffer too much.