Grant of Probate & Statement of Affairs - Joint Assets and Survivorship

stack0487

Hello,

Hoping for a bit of advice on completing the Assests Claim section of the Statement of Affairs (Probate) SA.2 online form on Revenue.ie.

The guide on the Revenue.ie site helpfully states that jointly held property (e.g. a house in the names of both a husband and wife) and jointly held accounts (e.g. the names of a husband and wife) may pass directly to the other named person directly - and are not considered part of the Estate, due to Survivorship. What it doesnt outline, is whether or not to include these assests on the Assets Claim section if that is the case. I imagine if these assets "are not part of the Estate" they do not form part of the value of the Estate, and so shouldnt be factored into the assests specificed on the claim, but I'm not sure...

So my question is: If a jointly owned property or joint account does not form part of the estate, per the above example of jointly held assets of a spouse, do I exclude it from the Statement of Affairs and detail only assets that were not jointly owned (e.g. bank accounts, pensions and property only in the name of the deceased)?

P.S. The deceased held no property or assets jointly with anyone other than his spouse, if that matters.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

stack0487

Any help here would he gratefully received - thanks.

stack0487

stack0487

Any help here would he gratefully received - thanks.

Spanish Eyes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118803890#Comment_118803890

Bump thread again on Monday, people who know these things are off for the long weekend.

Anyhow, have a look at page 24 here. It asks for details of property held jointly. The question is asked to see if the property passes automatically to the survivor, was funded jointly, and to whom it passes.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/gains-gifts-and-inheritance/documents/guide-to-completing-statement-of-affairs-probate-form-sa.2.pdf

If ALL the assets held by the deceased were in the joint names of deceased and spouse, the property passes automatically to the surviving spouse and is exempt from CAT. However the guide does not say that the information is not required, only that tax is not due between spouses. So I reckon you need to complete it.

I am not familiar with the new SA2 form, so maybe someone else will help later on.

stack0487

Thanks, that's my dilemma, it doesn't say to leave it out, so I'd be inclined to include it, but then it'll massively (and wrongly) inflate the value of the estate for the purpose of probate, when in reality there is very little that has not automatically passed to the spouse due to survivorship. The online form doesn't appear to have an option to check a box if the joint asset holder is a spouse - which would make sense if you needed to include everything, so that the fees due would accurately match the actual value of the deceased assets....

Claw Hammer

If they are not part of the estate then don't include. Some assets may be jointly held in a tenancy in common and there is no survivorship and should be included.