Wills delays ‘making housing crisis worse’
Inherited homes lie vacant for up to five months
26,000 properties affected annually
FAMILIES can wait as long as five months to inherit property under a will – with the delays being blamed for worsening the housing crisis.
About 30,000 people die in Ireland each year – nearly nine in ten of whom are homeowners.
This means about 26,000 homes are caught up in the delays in the legal process called probate, which ensures the will of a deceased person is valid so property can be distributed in accordance with his or her instructions.
Fianna Fáil housing spokesman Darragh O’Brien has learned that waiting times to receive a grant of probate vary widely across the country from four to 20 weeks.
He said: ‘In comparison to other countries, probate tends to take an inordinate amount of time to be processed in Ireland.
‘The data I have received through Parliamentary Question indicates that the average wait in Donegal is 20 weeks; it’s just four weeks in Cavan while Dublin has an eight-week average waiting time.
The average is a three-to-four week wait in England.’
The Department of Justice has also confirmed a group tasked with reviewing probate in Ireland, which was announced in 2016, has still not been established.
The delays and lack of a review are likely to be contributing to the relatively high vacancy of 183,000 homes nationwide, a rate of more than 9% of the housing stock.
Mr O’Brien said: ‘Families are not only dealing with grief but they are possibly coping with funeral costs and other expen- sive arrangements too. The lengthy wait to inherit the deceased’s estate means that these families are under significant stress to cover any outstanding bills.
‘Meanwhile, the department has confirmed the review first announced in June 2016 has not yet been implemented. These waiting times have a broader impact on the housing market across the country as up to 26,000 homes per annum are caught up in legal red tape.
‘This reduces the number of family homes available and increases the vacancy rate nationally.
‘I am calling on the Government to assist in streamlining the probate system with the aim of reducing waiting times and lowering the legal costs involved.’
He said a revamped probate system will require additional staff, changes to allow more use of electronic communications, access for lay applicants, simplified structure for low inheritance claims and simplified Revenue Inheritance Tax claims forms.
The probate process in Ireland is not as efficient as the UK and other jurisdictions, according to Royal London, which says the long waiting periods in Ireland are affecting those who are trying to get the affairs of the dead in order.
It also means a significant number of houses are needlessly lying vacant, it says.