Succession Act 1965 and Related Legislation: A Commentary

Brian Spierin is a leading expert in Ireland on the Law of Succession and Probate. He practised at the bar since 1985 and was called to the inner bar in 1999. Brian retired from practice in July 2022. He has been involved with wills for nearly forty years, as a member of staff of the High Court Probate Office, a law lecturer, a published author and as a junior and senior counsel. He is the author of The Succession Act and Related legislation: A Commentary, 5th Edition, which won the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association Book of the Year in 2018 and Wills, Irish Precedents and Drafting, 3rd Edition, which was also nominated for Practical Book of the Year by the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association.

Part I: Preliminary and General
Part II: Devolution of Real and Personal Estate on Death
Part III: Executors and Administrators
Part IV: Grants of Representation
Part V: Administration of Assets
Part VI: Distribution on Intestacy
Part VII: Wills
Part VIII: Conflict of Laws Relating to Testamentary Dispositions
Part IX: Legal Right of Testator’s Spouse, Civil Partner and Provision for Children
Part X: Unworthiness to Succeed and Disinheritance
Part XI: Limitations of Actions
Part XII: Provisions relating to Probate Office and District Probate Registries
First Schedule: Rules as to Application of Assets
Second Schedule: Repeals
Appendices
Appendix A: Intestacy and Legal Right
Appendix B: Comparison between Shares of Spouse/Civil Partner on Intestacy and as a Legal Right
Appendix C: Non-Contentious Probate Rules
Appendix D: Probate Forms
Appendix E: Form of Administration Bond
Appendix F: Precedent Form for Renunciation by Spouse/Civil Partner
Appendix G: Precedents for Notifications by Personal Representative
Appendix H: Unregistered Land Forms
Appendix I: Rules for Dealing with Registered Land
Appendix J: Registered Land Forms
Appendix K: Statutory Notice to Creditors
Appendix L: Duty to Publish Charitable Devises and Bequests
Appendix M: Disclaimers on Intestacy