Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to take this Commencement matter on behalf of my senior colleague in the Department of Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. Currently, there is no requirement to register wills with any State authority. The Private Members' Bill was the fourth attempt to introduce legislation that would allow for the voluntary registration of wills. The argument is being made that significant problems arise for families where there is a belief that a will exists but that it has been misplaced or lost.

When this matter was previously before the House, a timed amendment was agreed to allow for further examination of the proposals. On foot of this, a working group was established, comprising officials from the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Justice, the Courts Service and the Probate Office. The working group prepared a consultation document with submissions received from the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar of Ireland probate committee and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, STEP, Ireland. All of the submissions received raised serious observations about the proposed legislation. The Law Society of Ireland stated its strong view that there was no need for the establishment of such a register. It drew on the evidence that a tiny number of grants of representation, probate and administration intestate are revoked because a will is found after the grant of administration or probate issues. The society considered that the Bill would be detrimental to encouraging more people to make a will, would act as a barrier to the making and amending of wills, and would add to costs. It stated the Bill was contrary to public policy to encourage more people to make a will. Fears were also outlined by the society of the effect a register might have on vulnerable clients who could come under pressure to produce proof of registration to bad-faith actors, where currently they can simply refer their question to their solicitor and rely on solicitor-client confidentiality.

The Probate Bar Association of Ireland concluded that while there could be some practical benefits, these were outweighed by the lack of a need. Its members were unaware of any ongoing issues or difficulties that required the establishment of a register. The association observed that there did not appear to be benefits which were proportionate to the likely additional costs or administration that might be incurred. It was also concerned that a register would dissuade people from making a will.

STEP Ireland expressed general opposition to the enactment of the Bill and stated that a register of wills would act as an additional layer of compliance and bureaucracy in the making of wills. It would add to the costs for clients and disincentivise the making and updating of wills.

The report of the working group noted that making a will where property interests were involved was good public policy and supported by the Government. The working group noted there was little evidence of lost wills, that no public policy objectives would be achieved by establishing a form of registration and that an intervention of this nature could work to dilute the aim of encouraging the making of wills.

The negative impact of a registration process on vulnerable people either making wills or engaging in a process of registration where knowledge of their actions might expose them to exploitation was clearly expressed in submissions and needs to be considered.Notwithstanding that, a form of registration or pre-validation process may support the work of the Probate Office to some limited degree, the working group concluded that the case for establishing a register was not well-grounded on either public policy or practical grounds. However, officials from the General Register Office are happy to engage further with the Senator on the matter.