Applicant for Letters of Administration before grant issued

Trusts Discussion
1

I have a situation where the husband passed away intestate and so the wife acted as the administrator (also the sole beneficiary). But before grant was applied for, the wife also passed away intestate.

The wife’s sister is acting as her administrator (as no children from the marriage). The sister is also one of the residuary beneficiaries alongside her other siblings for the wife’s estate. I understand that in order to get letters of administration for the husband’s estate, the next eligible individual in the order of priority for intestacy, which would be his siblings, would need to apply. The problem is we do not have any details as to his siblings and they all live in Italy. Even if we did manage to find details and contact them, the language barrier along with other factors would make it quite difficult and cause delays in applying.

In such case, is it possible for the wife’s sister to apply for probate for the husband’s estate once letters of administration have been obtained for the wife’s estate? If so, on what basis?

Thanks.

2

If the wife was entitled to the entire estate of her predeceased husband, then it is her personal representative who will be entitled to apply for a Grant in the estate of her predeceased husband. The siblings of the predeceased husband are completely irrelevant, as they have no interest in his estate.

Cliona O’Tuama

Solicitor

3

I believe NCPR r22(4) applies