Intestacy in the Republic of Ireland

An intestacy arises when somebody dies without a valid Will. The law of intestacy in the Republic of Ireland is governed by the Succession Act 1965. The 1965 Act pays particular attention to Article 1 of the Irish Constitution, which provides constitutional protections to the ’family’ unit, ensuring that some entitlement is given to the deceased individual’s immediate family if they should die without making provision for them.

Before the distribution may take place, a grant of letters of administration may need to be extracted in the estate. While the 1965 Act sets out the persons who are entitled to a share in the intestate’s estate, the Rules of the Superior Courts 1986 determines who is entitled to apply for the grant of letters of administration. As a general principle, it follows that an entitlement to apply for grant of letters of administration intestate follows a right to take a share in the estate on an intestacy basis.

Division of the Estate

Under section 67 of the 1965 Act, the surviving married spouse of a deceased person is entitled to two-thirds of their estate, with the remaining one-third divided between the children of the deceased.

If the deceased had no children, then the entirety of the estate is due to the surviving spouse. This is a notable difference from the law of intestacy in Northern Ireland, where if the deceased’s estate is worth over £250,000, the spouse gets the first £250,000 and personal chattels and then the residue is shared ½ to the spouse and ½ to the surviving child of the deceased or, if there is more that one surviving child, ⅓to the spouse and ⅔ to the surviving children of the deceased.

If the intestate individual had no spouse, or if their spouse pre-deceased them, then the entirety of the estate is due to the intestate individual’s children equally.

If a couple are in a non-marital relationship and one of the parties dies intestate, whilst they have no succession rights under the 1965 Act, they can apply for provision to be made for them under Section 194 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. However, this can lead to lengthy court proceedings if this application is contested, and may result in the cohabiting partner being awarded less than the share which married spouses are entitled to.

There are separate provisions in intestacy law for persons who die intestate without a spouse, partner or children, and these classes extend to parents of a deceased person, then siblings if both parents are deceased, and so on. Our Private Client team can advise on how exactly any one estate should be distributed, depending on the make-up of that family.

The law of intestacy seeks to protect the interests of the deceased’s immediate next-of-kin, with their statutory entitlement ensuring that the assets of their loved one are fairly distributed. However, this does not guarantee that the wishes of the testator are adhered to. The headache caused by an intestacy is one which can be easily avoided, but must be addressed during someone’s lifetime by making a valid Will. Our Private Client team can assist with administering an intestate estate, due to the complex nature of the administrative process.