A relative of mine, who died some years ago, named me in their will as sole executor and, in that capacity, I have dealt fully and properly with her estate, with the exception of one small matter: the deceased had a small holding of shares (valued today at about €3,000), of which I only became aware recently.
These shares are in the sole name of the deceased. Must grant of probate be applied for before they can be dealt with?
Mr N. B.
Being an executor is a more challenging role than many people expect and that is why you would like to think people ask whether others are happy to act in that capacity before putting their names down in their wills.
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Of course, it is possible to renounce executorship, but most of us are reluctant to do so, not least as the deceased has placed their trust in us and it seems wrong to simply walk away – although that is very much what someone should do if they feel the role is beyond them.
It is also why many people will nominate their solicitor to act alongside a friend or family member in the role.
One of the big challenges for an executor is pulling together all the threads of a person’s financial life – assets and debts – before (generally) seeking probate and then distributing any remaining assets to those named in their will.
As you have discovered, it can be very difficult to track down all the strands of a person’s life. We all know we should keep file or, even notes alongside our wills on assets and where they are, but we never do.
You are far from the first person to be surprised by a long-forgotten asset.
Probate is generally required and most often this is done by a solicitor on behalf of the executor, though it is possible in the case of very straightforward estates for an executor to make a personal application.
There are some limited exceptions when you can bypass probate. This includes where the assets are jointly owned by spouses – such as the family home or bank accounts – and are transferring to the surviving spouse under what is called survivorship.
In practical terms, this means these do not even form part of the estate and therefore probate is irrelevant.
If the only asset in an estate is money amounting to less than €20,000 in an account that is just in the dead person’s name then most banks will have procedures in place allowing it to be transferred without going through probate.
There is also a process called the Small Estates Procedure for the management of estates that are, in total, worth less than €25,000.
However, my understanding is that where the estate includes shares in a listed company, probate will be required. If you secured probate for the rest of the estate, you will need to inform them of this late-discovered asset and you will inevitably be required to file an updated listed of assets and debts.
If you did not have to go the probate route the first time, these shares will now require it, as I understand. And that means the whole estate has to go to probate. It might well be something you require legal assistance with.
Ironically, that could easily wipe out the value of these shares. The relevant value for probate, obviously, is not their current value, but the value at the time the person died.
For anyone else going through an estate, it is always an idea to examine bank statements closely as this is where you might get a clue to the existence of shares through dividend payments – assuming the shares pay a dividend.
Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to dominic.coyle@irishtimes.com with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
