How long does probate take in Ireland?

The most common question personal applicants ask is how long probate takes. The honest answer is that it takes longer than people expect and varies by registry, by the state of the estate, and by Revenue's response time on the SA2. Below is a realistic breakdown of each stage.

The headline figure

For a personal application at the Dublin Probate Office as of March 2026, 10 to 12 weeks from lodgement appointment to Grant being issued, plus 3 weeks for the Grant to post. Total: 13 to 15 weeks.

This is the Principal Registry figure published by the Courts Service on courts.ie. Solicitor applications in Dublin currently run at similar timings because the processing queue is a single queue, not segmented by applicant type.

District Probate Registries outside Dublin vary, and are often faster. As of early 2026, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford typically issue Grants within 6 to 10 weeks. Smaller registries such as Cavan or Castlebar can be faster still. Check the current processing time with your registry directly before you plan around it.

Full timeline, phase by phase

The Grant date is a single point in a longer timeline. The full estate administration timeline has five phases.

Phase 1: Pre-lodgement (2 to 8 weeks). Register for Revenue myAccount if not already registered (5 to 10 working days for the security code to post). Gather asset valuations at date of death (property, shares, pensions). Request bank balance confirmations in writing (1 to 3 weeks per institution). Complete and submit the SA2. Receive Notice of Acknowledgement (days to weeks, depending on Revenue queries).

For a well-organised personal applicant with a straightforward estate and a responsive bank, this phase can be compressed to 2 weeks. For an estate with multiple institutions or slow valuers, it stretches to 6 to 8 weeks.

Phase 2: Booking the Probate Office appointment (1 to 6 weeks). The Probate Office schedules personal applicants by appointment. Current waiting times for an appointment in Dublin are a few weeks; district registries are typically faster. You cannot lodge without the SA2 Notice of Acknowledgement, so Phase 1 must complete before the appointment date.

Phase 3: Probate Office processing (10 to 12 weeks in Dublin, 6 to 10 weeks in district registries). The Probate Officer reviews the papers. If there is a query, they will raise it directly with the applicant. Most queries can be resolved within a week or two. Common queries: missing affidavit wording, incorrect oath wording, discrepancies between the SA2 and the papers.

Phase 4: Grant issue (roughly 3 weeks). Once approved, the Grant is sealed and posted to the applicant. Certified copies can be ordered at the time of lodgement for an extra €5 each, which avoids a second round of postal delay.

Phase 5: Post-grant estate administration (2 to 6 months). With the Grant in hand, you can now collect the estate assets from institutions, pay debts, file CAT returns for beneficiaries, and distribute. Property sales typically take 3 to 6 months from the Grant date. Bank account collections take 2 to 6 weeks per institution. Revenue clearance takes a further 4 to 8 weeks once all CAT has been paid.

Total from date of death to final distribution: 6 to 12 months for a standard estate. Estates involving property sales or Revenue disputes run to 12 to 24 months. Very complex estates can take years.

What causes delays

The five most common causes of probate delay, in rough order of frequency:

1. SA2 errors that require Revenue to reject and re-query. Most often: joint assets listed in full, wrong asset category, missing PPS numbers for beneficiaries. Each query adds 1 to 3 weeks.
2. Valuation disputes. Revenue occasionally queries a property valuation as too low, particularly where a house is being transferred to a beneficiary under the dwelling house exemption. Independent valuations from established estate agents reduce this risk.
3. Probate Office queries on the Oath. Wording errors or missing details on the Oath of Executor or Oath of Administrator are common. A personal applicant can correct these quickly; the fix itself adds a week or two.
4. Institution slowness on post-grant collections. Some banks take 6 weeks to release a straightforward account even after the Grant is produced. This is a feature of the banks, not of probate.
5. Beneficiary disputes. If a beneficiary challenges the distribution after the Grant, the executor cannot safely distribute until the dispute is resolved. This can add months.

How this compares to the United Kingdom

One reason Irish applicants underestimate probate timelines is that they have heard UK figures, which are different. HMRC's Inheritance Tax process moves faster than the Irish SA2 because HMRC accepts most submissions electronically with near-instant acknowledgement. The UK Probate Registry currently issues Grants within about 16 weeks for most applications. In practice, the Irish total is similar to the UK total, but the work is distributed differently.

What to do during the wait

The 10 to 12 weeks at the Probate Office is not wasted time for the executor. Useful work during the wait:

• Draft the notification letters to every institution (you cannot send them the Grant until it issues, but you can notify of the death and freeze accounts).
• Arrange a solicitor for any property sale that will follow the Grant.
• Ask beneficiaries for their PPS numbers and confirmed addresses.
• Start the beneficiary register and the estate distribution spreadsheet.
• If the estate is crossing the CAT threshold, advise beneficiaries to start thinking about their IT38 return.

The Executor's Year and the 12-month rule

Under the Succession Act 1965, executors have 12 months from the date of death before beneficiaries can sue for their share. This is the Executor's Year. It does not mean the estate must be wound up in 12 months; it means the executor is protected from legal action for delay during that period, provided they are acting reasonably.

Many estates take longer than 12 months to distribute, particularly where property sales are involved. What matters is clear communication with beneficiaries about what is happening and when they can expect their share. Full Executor's Year guide.

Live processing time updates

The Courts Service publishes current Probate Office processing times on courts.ie. ProbatePack also maintains updated processing times on the District Probate Registries page and refreshes the Dublin figure weekly. If a figure on this page looks out of date, check the registries page for the current number.