The grant of administration with will annexed is one of many different grants of representation possible in administering the estates of deceased persons.
This grant is required where
- The appointed executor renounces
- There is no executor appointed in the will
- The executor appointed does not renounce and refuses to apply for a grant of probate
- Executors have been appointed but die either before the deceased of before they prove the will
- The executor is under a disability eg a minor or a person of unsound mind
- The appointment of the executor is void due to uncertainty
- The executor is living abroad.
Who is Entitled to Extract the Grant of Administration with Will Annexed?
The entitlement to extract this grant is set out in Order 79, rule 5(6)
(6) Where the deceased died on or after the 1st day of January, 1967, domiciled in Ireland, leaving a will appointing no executor, or appointing an executor or executors who have been cleared off by death, renunciation, citation, or otherwise, the person, or persons entitled to a grant of administration with will annexed shall be determined in accordance with the following order of priority, namely:
(a) any residuary legatee or devisee holding in trust for any other person;
(b) any residuary legatee or devisee for life;
(c) any other residuary legatee or devisee or, subject to sub-rule (9) (b) hereof, which provides that live interests be preferred to dead interests, the personal representative of any such residuary legatee or devisee;
(d) any residuary legatee or devisee for life jointly with any ultimate residuary legatee or devisee on the renunciation or consent of the remaining residuary legatees or devisees for life;
(e) where the residue is not in terms wholly disposed of, the Probate Officer may, if he is of opinion that the testator has nevertheless disposed of the whole or substantially the whole of the estate as ascertained at the time of the application for a grant, allow a grant to be made to any legatee or devisee entitled to, or to share in, the estate so disposed of, without regard to the person entitled to share in any residue not disposed of by the will;
(f) where the residue is not wholly disposed of by the will, any person (other than a creditor) entitled to a grant in the event of a total intestacy according to the order of priority set out in sub-rules (1) to (5);
(g) any legatee or devisee or any creditor or, subject to sub-rule (9) (b), the personal representative of any such person.
Put simply, this means that the person who is entitled to the residue of the estate is the first person after the executor to prove the will.
If he/she predeceased the deceased or if no provision was made for the residue, the next of kin extracts the grant.
If the person who inherited the residue dies after the deceased but then dies, his legal personal representative extracts the grant.
Administration Bond
An Administration Bond is an additional document required for this type of grant and a Grant of Administration Intestate. It does not arise in extracting a Grant of Probate and is not required.
Section 34, Succession Act, 1965 deals with administration bonds:
34.—(1) Every person to whom a grant of administration is made shall give a bond (in this section referred to as an administration bond) to the President of the High Court to inure for the benefit of the President of the High Court for the time being and, if the High Court, the Probate Officer or (in the case of a grant from a district probate registry) the district probate registrar so requires, with one or more surety or sureties conditioned for duly collecting, getting in, and administering the estate of the deceased.
The Administration Bond is a type of insurance policy or guarantee which gives security to beneficiaries and/or creditors in the event that the estate is not administered properly.
It must cover double the gross Irish assets including the current market value rates of any land.