Solicitors nationwide from Tuesday 2 June will be able to apply for Probate online on the Courts Portal at portal.courts.ie. Since late 2025, the Courts Service has been conducting an initial project involving a select number of solicitors in Dublin to test the Courts Portal for applications for grants of probate. Over 100 applications have been received, and the system has been updated based on solicitor feedback. As part of the test project the Dublin Probate Office have been turning around applications online within 10 working days.
Speaking about the experience, Probate Officer Anne Heenan explained: “We have had good feedback from our Dublin solicitors who have been processing probate applications online since the end of last year. Probate is a complicated process, compounding the situation are the level of errors and mistakes we receive in hard copy applications. The high volume of errors increases the volume of work for the office and increases turnaround times from receipt of first application to finalising probate. We’re noticing there is a reduction in the errors and mistakes received through the online applications and as a result we have been able to improve the turnaround times. With a nationwide rollout we don’t know what turnaround times might be like at this point but we’re looking forward to receiving more applications online.”
The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Mr Jim O’Callaghan T.D., whose department has supported the development of the Courts Portal also welcomed the announcement “I am extremely pleased to see the nationwide rollout of probate online for solicitors by the Courts Service, with support from officials in my Department. This will benefit people across Ireland and their solicitors, allowing them to progress probate processes quickly and securely, and will also help to address housing supply. This rollout is part of the wider digitalisation of the courts system which is a critical part of the Courts Service’s 10-year modernisation programme. I encourage all solicitors to register on the Courts Portal and to file online. I want to commend everyone involved in progressing this important programme.”
Dublin solicitors involved in the test phase over the past few months have been providing their feedback. Niall Gaffney of Gaffney Mullins & Co confirmed: “Gaffney Mullins & Co. are delighted to be a part of this new initiative that enables us to file our clients’ Probate applications online directly from our offices. The integration between the system and the Revenue has greatly simplified the application process, minimising the amount of time spent inputting repetitive information and enabling the Probate Office to issue the Grants more efficiently.”
Speaking about the approach Owen Harrison, Assistant Secretary for ICT, the Courts Service explained “Since receiving our first online probate applications from Dublin solicitors on the Courts Portal we have been working very closely with the solicitors who registered in the few test months. We have been evaluating and validating the initial applications and updating the system based on solicitor feedback. We are very grateful for the feedback, and the time solicitors have given us. We’ve learnt a lot about the user experience both from the Dublin Probate Office perspective and from the solicitors’ point of view. We received the most feedback from solicitors on the Statement of Truth, which is the online affidavit we introduced into the Court Rules for the purpose of filing online. It's just a new concept for people to get used to. Receiving applications for grant of probate online for solicitors nationwide has been much anticipated by ourselves in the Courts Service, solicitors, our Housing for All colleagues and colleagues right across Government. We now need to create volume on the system so we can make further improvements. We encourage all solicitors to register their firms on portal.courts.ie and then to file probate applications online.”
Next Steps
As more solicitors file online the Courts Service will make improvements to the system. As the system improves, we will be able to rollout support for intestacy applications, where the persons who died did not leave a will. Tuesday's nationwide rollout will facilitate applications for grants of probate for the time being. Further rollout of the system was explained by Harrison “It is important that we progress and improve this phase of the nationwide rollout to solicitors and build on the feedback we receive. When we reach satisfaction levels on the current system, we will then roll-out this service for more areas like intestacy and personal applications."
Harrison continued to explain the process to date and their overall plans for improved digitalisation: "We have been working very closely with staff, judiciary, practitioners and users on the development of the new system. We have introduced the new unified case management system (UCMS) to staff and have started the work of replacing 150 legacy systems. We have also introduced on a pilot basis the judges’ view of the system – (Judicial UCMS) for Circuit Court Family Law. We, now, have two online services on the Portal for Circuit Court Family Law and Probate. We are learning a lot from user feedback and updating the system based on that feedback. The process is incremental and iterative, but it means we should be able to deliver systems that better meet users’ needs.”
The Courts Portal, a fundamental cornerstone of the Courts Service Modernisation Programme, is not only going to be available for probate applications but is being rolled out across different areas of law and jurisdictions. In the next few years across Civil and Family Law, the Portal will allow for e-filing, e-serving, making e-payments and the collection of digital orders. Anyone with queries can email: [email protected].
