The Government has been urged to establish a national wills register to make it easier for family members to track down a will after someone dies.
Depending on whose figures you look at, somewhere between 60 and 70 per cent of Irish adults have not made a will. But there is a further group who have made a will but left no instructions on where it might be.
That can lead to long, unnecessary delays in managing their affairs and dividing their estate among their heirs.
Royal London Ireland is calling on the Government to establish a national register of wills, something it says is available in most other European countries, to try to expedite affairs.
READ MORE
[ Get your financial affairs in order. Your loved ones will thank youOpens in new window ]
“The continued absence of a national State register of wills in Ireland inevitably leads to unnecessary and lengthy delays in the locating of wills and is also leaving some wills at risk of not being found at all,” the insurer said, comparing a register to the current property price register that gives easy access to completed property transactions.
Locating wills can be a challenge and it can be unclear even when a will is found whether it was the most recent one or has been superseded by another yet undiscovered document. The retirement of solicitors who may have drawn up a person’s will can also complicate the process, even where the family know who the dead person’s solicitor was.
“As one of the few European countries without a national will register, Ireland is way behind its European counterparts and European best practice in this regard,” said Joe Charles, proposition director at Royal London Ireland.
“A national will register would enable a person making a will, or their solicitor, to register certain details of the will – such as the date of the will and the custodian of the will – with a central authority, thus making it easier to locate a will at the time it is needed and reducing the risk of the will remaining unknown or being found belatedly.”
He said a will register does not contain any details of the actual content of a will.
The insurer said, as of now, where no will is found, probate can go ahead only to be revoked months, or sometimes years later when a will is located, causing serious distress for the families involved.
There have been several attempts to legislate for such a register, the first back in 2011, and then again in 2016 and 2021. However, the legislation has never progressed.
“We believe there would be strong merit in the Government progressing with the legislation necessary to put a national will register in place for Ireland. A national online State will register would make it easier to locate a will and confirm its validity, reduce probate delays and help prevent wills being contested,” said Mr Charles.
“It would also help ensure that people’s affairs are settled as smoothly as possible after they die and help ease some of the huge financial and emotional upheaval faced by people when a loved one passes away.”
