What To Do When Someone Dies in Ireland: An Executor's Checklist
August 26, 2026
This is a general guide, not legal or tax advice — every estate is different, and a solicitor or accountant can give a definitive answer for your specific situation. Figures below (thresholds, timelines) reflect the position at the time of writing and can change, so confirm current figures with Revenue or the Probate Office before relying on them.
Being named executor usually isn't something anyone prepares for. It tends to land in the middle of grief, with a stack of unfamiliar admin and no clear sense of what order things need to happen in. There's very little Ireland-specific guidance written for someone doing this for the first time — most of what's online is either generic (written for a different country's rules) or aimed at solicitors rather than the family actually doing the work. This is our attempt at the missing version: a practical order of operations, in plain English.
In the First Few Days
- Get the death certified. If the death was in a hospital or nursing home, the hospital or doctor will give the family the paperwork. Otherwise, contact the doctor who attended the person. If the death was sudden or unexplained, a coroner may need to be involved.
- Get a Death Notification Form from the doctor who attended — you'll need this to register the death.
- Register the death with any Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths. You should do this within 3 months, and it must be done within 12 months.
- Order several copies of the death certificate. Nearly every institution you contact — banks, pension providers, insurers — will want to see (and often keep) their own copy.
- Secure the property — make sure it's locked, insured, and that anything perishable is dealt with.
- Locate the will, if there is one, and check who's named as executor.
Who Needs to Be Told
Over the following weeks, most estates involve working through a similar list of notifications. Each one generally needs a death certificate and, once you're acting formally, proof of your authority as executor:
- Banks, building societies and credit unions
- Pension providers and any life insurance policies
- Revenue — the personal representative (or their solicitor) should tell the deceased's Revenue office as soon as possible, by phone, in writing or through MyEnquiries; any tax owed up to the date of death needs to be settled, and a final income tax return may be needed
- The Department of Social Protection, if the person was getting a State pension or another social welfare payment — Citizens Information says this must be done before the estate is distributed, and an executor who doesn't may be personally responsible for repaying any overpayment
- The mortgage provider, if there is one
- Utility providers (electricity, gas, broadband, phone)
- The HSE, if the person had a Medical Card (0818 22 44 78)
- The HSE, if the person or their partner was in a nursing home under the Fair Deal scheme — Citizens Information says a schedule of the deceased's assets and written notice must be sent to the HSE at least 3 months before the estate is distributed
- The National Driver Licence Service (NDLS), if the person held a driving licence
- An Post, to redirect or cancel post
Do You Need a Solicitor?
Many executors can apply for probate personally, through the Probate Office's personal application service, without instructing a solicitor. The Courts Service says you must use a solicitor if any of the following apply: there's a dispute among the next of kin about the estate, the original will has been lost, there are questions about the validity of the will, the applicant is under 18 or lacks capacity, the deceased was domiciled outside Ireland in certain situations (for example, leaving a will in a foreign language), or the applicant lives outside Ireland and beneficiaries other than the spouse stand to inherit €20,000 or more. The Probate Office can also decide at any stage that a solicitor is needed to administer a particular estate. Even where a personal application is possible, a solicitor can help with more complex estates.
Applying for a Grant of Probate
The exact paperwork depends on the route:
- Personal application: file a Statement of Affairs (Form SA.2) online with Revenue through myAccount or ROS, then submit a Personal Application Form, Revenue's Notice of Acknowledgement and supporting documents (including the original death certificate and a photocopy of the will) to the Probate Office or District Probate Registry. You'll be given an appointment to attend in person, swear or affirm an oath, and have your documents examined.
- Solicitor-led application: the solicitor prepares and lodges the papers for you, including the online Statement of Affairs (Form SA.2), which replaced the old paper Inland Revenue Affidavit (Form CA24) in 2020. Solicitors can now apply online through the Courts Service portal in many cases.
Which Probate Office you use depends on where the deceased lived: if that was Dublin, Kildare, Meath or Wicklow, the application goes to the Dublin Probate Office; otherwise it can go to the Dublin Probate Office or the District Probate Registry for that county.
Timelines vary a lot from estate to estate, and processing times change, so treat any figure as indicative only. For personal applications, the Courts Service says appointment dates are usually issued 10–12 weeks after the application is lodged, and the grant is usually posted out within about 3 weeks of the appointment. The Law Society says it will usually be upwards of three months before a grant issues, and it can take longer. Missing or inconsistent details can slow things down: the Courts Service asks applicants to use the deceased's full name on all documents, note any variations of the name, and make sure the applicants on Revenue's Notice of Acknowledgement match those on the application form.
Inheritance Tax (CAT): The Numbers
Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is charged on gifts and inheritances above a tax-free threshold, at a rate of 33% on the amount above it. The threshold depends on the relationship between the deceased and the person inheriting, and is a lifetime cumulative figure — it adds up across all gifts and inheritances received from within the same group since 5 December 1991, not just this one estate. Inheritances taken by a spouse or civil partner are exempt from CAT. The thresholds below are Revenue's figures for gifts and inheritances taken on or after 2 October 2024.
| Group | Relationship | Tax-free threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Group A | Child (including adopted children, stepchildren and, in certain circumstances, foster children) from a parent; a grandchild under 18 whose parent (the deceased's child) has died; also a parent who inherits outright (an "absolute interest") on the death of their child | €400,000 |
| Group B | Brother or sister, niece or nephew, grandparent, grandchild (other than in Group A), or a parent receiving a gift or a limited interest from a child | €40,000 |
| Group C | Everyone else — relations more distant, or unrelated | €20,000 |
If the total taxable value of someone's gifts and inheritances within a group exceeds 80% of that group's threshold, Revenue requires a CAT return (Form IT38), filed through myAccount or ROS, even where no tax ends up being owed. Citizens Information notes that filing the return and paying any CAT is generally the beneficiary's responsibility rather than the executor's. This is exactly the kind of detail worth confirming with an accountant for your specific situation — thresholds and rules do change from budget to budget.
Clearing the House — When and How
Clearing the family home is usually one of the last practical steps, not the first — and there's no need to rush it. We've written separately about what's generally fine to do before probate is granted and what's worth being careful about. In short: securing the property and dealing with anything urgent is usually fine straight away (Citizens Information notes that executors have a duty to preserve the deceased's assets and make sure they are insured); a full clearance is usually better left until probate is sorted, or until the solicitor handling the estate agrees and beneficiaries have had a chance to go through anything of value.
When you do get to that stage, our Bereavement Clearance service is built specifically around this situation — flexible timing, no rush, and items set aside for family review wherever that matters. We regularly coordinate directly with executors and solicitors on timing and access.
Free Executor's Checklist & Asset Inventory
To make the early admin easier to track, we've put together two free downloads based on everything above:
- Executor's Checklist (CSV) — the full sequence above as a checkable list, from registering the death through to distributing the estate.
- Estate Asset & Inventory Template (CSV) — a simple spreadsheet for logging accounts, property and other assets alongside the CAT group reference table, ready to open in Excel or Google Sheets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to hire a solicitor to deal with probate?
Not always — many executors can apply personally. The Courts Service says a solicitor is required in specific situations: a dispute among the next of kin, a lost will, questions about the will's validity, an applicant who is under 18 or lacks capacity, certain cases where the deceased was domiciled outside Ireland, or a non-resident applicant where beneficiaries other than the spouse inherit €20,000 or more. The Probate Office can also decide that a solicitor is needed.
How long does probate take in Ireland?
It varies by estate, and processing times change. As an indication, the Courts Service says personal applicants are usually given an appointment 10–12 weeks after lodging their application, with the grant usually posted within about 3 weeks of the appointment. The Law Society says it will usually be upwards of three months before a grant issues, and it can take longer.
Can I clear the house before probate is granted?
Usually, for the basics — securing the property, removing perishables, general tidying — but anything that could affect the estate's value is worth holding off on until the solicitor handling the estate has confirmed it and the beneficiaries agree. See our full guide on this.
What if the estate is small, or there's no will?
Smaller or simpler estates can still go through the personal application route in many cases, and the Law Society notes that in limited circumstances an estate can be administered without a grant at all. Where there's no will, an administrator is appointed instead of an executor, following intestacy rules — usually the next of kin, in an order of priority that starts with a spouse or civil partner, then children. This is worth a specific conversation with a solicitor, or with the Probate Office on the procedure (it can explain the process but can't give legal advice), since the right person to apply isn't always obvious.
Sources: Citizens Information, when someone dies; Citizens Information, dealing with a deceased person's money and property; Courts Service, applying for probate; Law Society of Ireland, administration of estates; Revenue, duties of a personal representative; Revenue, CAT thresholds, rates and aggregation rules.
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