www.limerickpost.ie 22 | Saturday 11 July 2015 News law link Your questions IF you have a legal query that you would like answered you can email [email protected] or send your query to Alex O’Neill Solicitors, 22 Barrington Street, Limerick. The column is a readers’ service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into. Here, Alex O’Neill Solicitors replies to one of the queries received at [email protected]. Download your FREE Limerick Post iPhone/Android app Airport Sky-high excitement at Shannon airport My sister is refusing to give me a copy of my father’s will. Am I entitled to a copy? Q. My father died ten months ago and my only sister is the executor of his estate. I have asked my sister to give me a copy of my father’s Will and to date she has refused though she has confirmed that he left me the sum of €20,000.00 in his Will. My sister refuses to give me any information as to what is happening and if the administration of his estate is almost finished and when I can expect to get what my father left me. She also mentioned that my father owed a number of people money and that all of this needs to be cleared up first. What are my entitlements? Dear Reader, A. Firstly, because your sister is the executor of this estate, she is obliged to find out the full extent of your father’s debts and to ensure that these are cleared before any bequests or payments to beneficiaries are paid, including the bequest which your father left to you. Your sister would be most unwise to attempt to distribute your father’s estate until all of his debts have been identified, as she can in some circumstances be held personally liable for payment of these debts if she fails or overlooks to pay them. It is open to your sister to place a public advertisement inviting any of your father’s creditors to make details of their claims known to her within a specified period of time. In this way she gets some protection against a claims by creditors which are only notified to her after that time period. It is a general rule of law that the executor has a period of one year from the date of the testator’s death in which to complete administration of the estate. This means that your sister cannot be sued for her failure to complete the administration and distribute the estate within this twelve month period after your father’s death, unless a Court decides otherwise. If your sister unreasonably delays in progressing the administration or is in serious breach of her duties as Executor it is possible to bring an application to court to have her removed as executor and to have a replacement executor appointed in her stead. A court would have to be satisfied that there was serious misconduct on your sister’s part before agreeing to this. Finally, you are not entitled as a legal right to a copy of your father’s Will. Your sister cannot be forced to make a copy of your father’s Will available to you before Probate is extracted unless you secure a Court Order requiring her to do so. You are however entitled to be provided with an extract or summary from the will setting out your own benefit. You should outline your concerns in writing to your sister, request that she makes a copy of the entire Will available to you and ask her to provide you or your own solicitor with regular updates on the state of the Administration. If you are still being kept in the dark there are various applications that your solicitor can make to secure the missing information. Swedish jet, the Sabb Viggen Picture: Frank Grealish by Bernie English [email protected] AN ESTIMATED 40,000 people are expected to land on Shannon for one of the most spectacular air shows ever staged in the Mid-West, with the line-up for the Shannon Air Display and associated field activities finalised ahead of Saturday week’s extravaganza. The Shannon airfield, which will be transformed into the viewing area for the stunning overhead displays, as 20 domestic and international acts, operating 33 separate aircraft, go through their lightning fast paces. Tickets for the event, which cost just €5 and are available on Eventbrite at http:// shannondisplay15.eventbrite.ie, with children under 6 years getting free access to the event while ticket- holders will also be entitled to free access on the weekend to a choice of either Bunratty Castle, King John’s Castle or Craggaunowen visitor attractions. The action will be far from confined to the skies, with final arrangements also now being put in place for a vast array of on-the- ground activities as more than 20 separate children’s attractions – ranging from a carousel to a bungee run, obstacle courses and giant jenga – some 25 food operators, as well as music entertainment, ensure there is plenty to enjoy during breaks in the air display. A static aircraft and tank display in the spectator zone is also set to be a major attraction. The main event happens in the skies, however, and crowds will be served up a stunning display, with some of Europe’s leading performers on hand to deliver the captivating performances during the five hour event. Among the most recently confirmed performers is Dave Bruton, who is rated by his peers as among the best aerobatics acts in the world and set to enthral crowds with his daredevil acts in his high- performance two-seater Extreme 342 aircraft. Speaking ahead of the event, Dave predicted that the crowds will go away very happy from the event. “Shannon Airport is such a great name in aviation and I am personally really looking forward to performing at the Air Display. It’s an important anniversary from not just a Shannon but an Irish aviation perspective and everyone will be really looking forward to putting on a show. “I know most if not all of the other performers and it really is a fantastic line-up. Those attending won’t want for excitement, that’s for sure.” One of the high points of the day will be the performance of the renowned Swedish jet, the Sabb Viggen in what will be the first ever performance at an Irish air show by this stunning aircraft. The Shannon line-up will also include the Blacknights, the most successful parachute team to ever come out of Ireland and involving members made up from army, air corps and navy. The Iolar, which is a replica of the original aircraft that heralded the founding of Aer Lingus in 1936, and the Chipmunks, a popular training aircraft for both civil and military aviation, will also perform. Among those also displaying their air skills will be the Norweigan Airforce with its ‘historical squad’, which will bring the Mig-15 for its first visit to Shannon. The RAF Hunter Jet, first flown in 1955, will also be performing. O’Brien’s Flying Circus, one of the UK’s most daredevil acts, will also thrill audiences with their crazy stunts, including landing on a moving trailer at 55mph. Crime Collins calls for extra Garda resources by Kathy Masterson [email protected] LIMERICK TD and Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Justice Niall Collins says that gardaí are under-resourced and that recent cuts to the force have made it more difficult for members to do their jobs. Deputy Collins made the comments following the recent CSO review of Garda crime data, which revealed that one in five crimes reported to Gardaí in 2011 didn’t appear as recorded crimes on the official Garda PULSE system. He said: “The fact that 18 per cent of crimes reported to the Gardaí in 2011 weren’t appropriately recorded on the PULSE system is a cause of serious concern and reinforces the point Fianna Fáil has been making for a number of years now that serious crime has increased in many areas. “If the Government wasn’t so out of touch with communities across the country they would have known that the figures being produced were not reflective of the reality on the ground. When will the gardaí be given the necessary resources to tackle crime in our communities?” The review highlights an eight per cent increase in burglaries and an eight per cent increase in assaults in the year to the end of March 2015. Deputy Collins continued: “In fact many of the major crime headings recorded an increase and the Government is only now waking up to the reality being faced in communities across the country. There is a clear need for extra resources and it is also very clear now that gardaí are stretched and frontline policing has been seriously hit by regressive cuts.” Deputy Collins pointed out that figures released by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald revealed that every garda division has seen a cut in garda numbers. He concluded: “Minister Fitzgerald dragged her feet for months before finally releasing this information. It shows just how under-resourced frontline policing has been under this Government and clearly that is impacting on gardaí and the proper recording of all crimes.”