PART XII

Provisions relating to Probate Office and District Probate Registries

128. —(1) In this section “the Assistant Probate Officer” means the officer employed in the Probate Office who is next in rank to the Probate Officer and is qualified to be appointed to be Probate Officer.

(2) The powers, authorities, duties and functions exercisable or performable by the Probate Officer may, subject to any restrictions which the President of the High Court may think fit to impose, be exercised or performed by the Assistant Probate Officer.

129. —(1) There shall be district probate registries for such districts and at such places as the Minister may by order appoint.

(2) The Minister may by order—

(a) alter the district served by a district probate registry;

(b) add to or reduce the number of such districts;

(c) direct that any district probate registry may be at such place within the district as he thinks fit;

(d) close any district probate registry.

(3) Whenever the Minister makes an order closing a district probate registry, the Minister may by that order make provision for enabling applications for representation, in cases in which the deceased, at the time of his death, had a fixed place of abode within the district previously served by that registry, to be lodged with the county registrar for the area in which that place of abode was situate and for the transmission of the applications by the county registrar to the Probate Office and the transmission of the grants (if and when issued) from the Probate Office to the said county registrar for delivery to the person entitled thereto.

(4) Until provision is otherwise made under this section, the district probate registries existing at the commencement of this Act shall continue to function for the districts and at the places theretofore appointed by law.

130. —(1) In this section, “the Act of 1936” means the Courts of Justice Act, 1936 .

[1959 (No. 8) s. 24 (1)]

(2) For the purposes of section 65 (which empowers the Minister to prescribe court fees) of the Act of 1936, every district probate registry shall be deemed to be an office established by the Court Officers Act, 1926 .

S.I. No. 251 of 1956.

(3) The Supreme Court and High Court (Fees) Order, 1956, as modified by section 24 of the Administration of Estates Act, 1959 , shall, notwithstanding the repeal of that Act by this Act, continue to apply in respect of each district probate registry and each district probate registrar.

131. —Where a person (in this section referred to as the acting district probate registrar) is for the time being required and authorised by the Minister under section 9 of the Court Officers Act, 1945 , as amended by section 5 of the Court Officers Act, 1951 , to perform the duties of district probate registrar for the district served by a particular district probate registry, the Minister may authorise a specified officer serving in that district probate registry or in the circuit court office which serves the area within which such district probate registry is located to execute, during the temporary absence or temporary incapacity through illness of the acting district probate registrar, the office of district probate registrar for that district and, if the Minister does so, then, such officer shall, during any such temporary absence or temporary incapacity, have and exercise all the powers and fulfil all the duties of the district probate registrar for that district unless and until the Minister otherwise directs.