Children, family and inheritance — Ireland

Names

Names can be changed by common usage or by deed poll enrolled in the High Court, and gender recognition is by self-declaration.

Irish law also treats names as a matter of usage, but a deed poll enrolled in the Central Office of the High Court provides formal proof and is required by many institutions, particularly for passports. The Gender Recognition Act 2015 allows a change of legal gender by self-declaration, one of the earliest such laws in Europe.

Key points

In practice

• Enrol the deed poll if you need to change a passport or official records.
• For a child, obtain both guardians' written consent before applying anywhere.

Cost and coverage

Enrolment fees are modest; solicitors charge for drafting.

Where to go

• Courts Service Central Office for deed poll enrolment.
• Passport Service for documentary requirements.
• Citizens Information for step-by-step guidance.

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Adoption

Adoption in Ireland is regulated by the Adoption Act 2010 as amended by the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017, which extended eligibility to cohabiting couples and civil partners and strengthened the best-interests principle. The Adoption Authority of Ireland is both the regulator and the body that makes adoption orders. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, carries out assessments. Adoption is full and irrevocable; there is no simple adoption.

Irish adoption cannot be understood without the mother and baby homes. Tens of thousands of children were placed between the 1920s and the 1990s, often after coercive pressure on unmarried mothers, and many were sent abroad. The 2021 report of the Commission of Investigation and the 2022 tracing legislation are the state's response, and they explain why access to records is now framed as a right rather than a concession.

Today the numbers are small. Domestic adoption of an infant is rare; most orders are step-parent adoptions, and a smaller number concern children in long-term foster care where the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017 made adoption possible without parental consent in defined circumstances.

The declaration of eligibility is the practical gatekeeper for intercountry adoption. It is valid for two years and renewable, but it only opens countries with which Ireland has an arrangement — in practice a handful, and the list changes when a country closes or the Authority suspends it.

Same-sex couples: joint adoption has been open since the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 and the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017.

Key points

In practice

• Apply to Tusla or an accredited body for an assessment of eligibility and suitability.
• Complete the preparation course and the home study, which covers health, finances, references and Garda vetting.
• Receive the declaration of eligibility and suitability from the Adoption Authority.
• For intercountry adoption, work with an accredited body in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral or Hague arrangement.
• After placement, apply for the adoption order or for registration of the foreign adoption in the Register of Intercountry Adoptions.

Cost and coverage

Domestic adoption is free. An intercountry adoption costs roughly €15,000 to €30,000 once agency fees, legal costs and travel are counted. Statutory adoptive leave is 24 weeks with adoptive benefit, plus 16 weeks unpaid, and parent's leave applies as for birth parents.

Where to go

• Adoption Authority of Ireland
• Tusla, the Child and Family Agency
• Accredited bodies listed by the Authority
• Barnardos and the Adoption Rights Alliance for support and origins searching
• Contact Preference Register operated by Tusla

Frequently asked questions

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Assisted reproduction

For decades assisted reproduction in Ireland operated with no dedicated legislation, governed by professional guidelines and constitutional case law. Two changes transformed it. In September 2023 the state began funding treatment through the Regional Fertility Hubs and a small number of approved private providers. Then the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 created a statutory framework and a regulatory authority, covering donation, embryo research, posthumous use and domestic altruistic surrogacy.

Ireland's late arrival at regulation is not an accident. Constitutional protection of the unborn, in force until 2018, made legislating on embryos politically impossible, so practice developed under professional guidelines while the law stood still. The 2018 referendum unblocked it.

The Regional Fertility Hubs matter more than the headline about IVF funding. They provide investigation and first-line treatment — ovulation induction, surgery, insemination — and resolve a large proportion of cases without IVF at all, which is both cheaper and less invasive.

Surrogacy is where the 2024 Act breaks most new ground, regulating domestic altruistic arrangements and providing a path for parentage. Irish couples had for years travelled abroad and returned to a legal vacuum in which the genetic father could be recognised but the other intended parent could not.

Same-sex couples: the donor-assisted human reproduction provisions in force since May 2020 allow both women to be registered as parents where a traceable donor was used at a licensed clinic. The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 provides a framework for domestic altruistic surrogacy and for recognising some arrangements made abroad.

Key points

In practice

• See your GP and ask for referral to your Regional Fertility Hub, the entry point to public care.
• Complete the investigations at the hub, which handles a large share of cases without IVF.
• If IVF is indicated, be assessed against the access criteria for the publicly funded scheme.
• Choose a clinic — public referral or private — and check its results and its regulatory status.
• For donor treatment, ensure the donor is registered so the child can access identifying information.

Cost and coverage

Privately, an IVF cycle costs €4,500 to €6,000 before drugs, which add €1,000 to €2,000. ICSI and donor gametes cost more. Tax relief at the standard rate is available on medical expenses. The publicly funded scheme covers a limited number of cycles for those who meet the criteria, which include age and BMI limits and having no existing children together.

Where to go

• Regional Fertility Hubs in each HSE region, the gateway to public treatment
• HSE, for the access criteria of the publicly funded scheme
• Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority
• Licensed private clinics in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick
• National Infertility Support and Information Group

Frequently asked questions

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Childcare

The National Childcare Scheme combines a universal subsidy with an income-assessed one, and the ECCE programme gives two free preschool years.

Ireland's childcare support rests on three pillars. The Early Childhood Care and Education programme provides two free preschool years, three hours a day during term time, for children from the age of two years and eight months. The National Childcare Scheme pays a universal hourly subsidy for children under fifteen and an income-assessed subsidy that is considerably larger for lower-income families. Core Funding is paid directly to providers in exchange for a fee freeze. Tusla registers and inspects all services.

The subsidy is paid through the provider, not to you. That means the provider must be registered and participating, and it also means the amount you see on your invoice already reflects the subsidy — which makes comparing services harder than it looks.

ECCE is term-time and three hours a day, which does not cover a working day. Families combine it with paid hours around it, and the resulting invoice can be confusing: ask for a breakdown of funded and paid hours.

Bringing childminders into the system matters more than it sounds. Childminding has always been the largest form of care in Ireland, and it sat outside both regulation and subsidy; registration changes what families can claim and what standards apply.

Key points

In practice

• Apply for the National Childcare Scheme online and obtain your award letter before enrolling.
• Confirm the provider is registered with Tusla and participates in the scheme.
• Check ECCE eligibility by date of birth: the cut-offs are strict.
• Register early — urban services fill their September intake in the previous winter.
• Keep the award letter updated when income or hours change, or the subsidy stops.

Cost and coverage

Full-time care costs roughly €800 to €1,400 a month before subsidies, more in Dublin. The universal and income-assessed subsidies reduce this substantially, and the ECCE years cut it again. The fee freeze attached to Core Funding has slowed increases, but availability in Dublin remains the binding constraint.

Where to go

• National Childcare Scheme, ncs.gov.ie
• Tusla Early Years Inspectorate, for the register and inspection reports
• City and County Childcare Committees, which know local availability
• Department of Children, Disability and Equality, for scheme rules
• Childminding Ireland, for registered childminders

Frequently asked questions

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Step-families

A step-parent or partner can apply for guardianship after two years living with the parent.

Since the reform of 2015, a step-parent, civil partner or cohabitant of a parent may apply to the court to be appointed a guardian of the child, provided they have lived with the parent for at least two years and have shared in the child's day-to-day care. Guardianship confers decision-making rights without displacing the parents. Adoption of a partner's child is also possible. Without either, a stepchild is not an heir on intestacy.

Ireland created a distinct and practical route in 2015: a step-parent or a parent's cohabiting partner can apply to be appointed a guardian if they have lived with the parent for at least two years and shared in the child's day-to-day care. That gives real decision-making authority without adoption. Step-parent adoption is also possible and, since 2017, no longer requires the biological parent to adopt their own child alongside their spouse.

Key points

In practice

• Count the two years carefully: the application is refused if the period is short.
• Guardianship does not remove the parents' rights; it adds yours.
• Make a will: a stepchild takes nothing on intestacy.
• Mediation is subsidised and often resolves access questions faster than court.

Cost and coverage

A guardianship application in the District Court involves modest fees and is often made without a solicitor. Adoption is free of court fees but involves an Adoption Authority assessment that takes many months.

Where to go

• District Court, for guardianship and access applications.
• Legal Aid Board, subject to means.
• Family mediation service, subsidised.

Frequently asked questions

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Inheritance

Ireland gives the surviving spouse a legal right share that no will can defeat — one half of the estate without children, one third with — while children may claim under section 117.

The Succession Act 1965 protects the surviving spouse or civil partner with a legal right share: one half of the estate where there are no children, one third where there are. It applies whatever the will says, and the spouse elects between the share and any legacy. Children have no fixed share, but section 117 allows a child to apply where the parent failed in their moral duty to make proper provision. Ireland did not opt into the EU Succession Regulation, so its own conflict rules continue to apply.

The legal right share makes Ireland a hybrid: freedom of testation for children, forced heirship for the spouse. A will that leaves everything to the children is therefore only partly effective if a spouse survives.

Section 117 is real. Irish courts have made awards to adult children where a parent gave far more to one sibling, or where a child had a disability, though the threshold — a positive failure of moral duty — is demanding.

Cohabitants are protected by the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, which allows a qualified cohabitant to apply for provision from the estate. It is a claim, not an entitlement, and it must be brought within strict time limits.

Key points

In practice

• Locate the will and extract a grant of probate, or letters of administration on intestacy.
• Notify the spouse of the right to elect between the legal right share and the legacy left by the will.
• Value the estate and file the Statement of Affairs with Revenue.
• Pay capital acquisitions tax where a beneficiary exceeds their group threshold.
• Note the six-month limit for a section 117 application from the grant.

Cost and coverage

Probate fees are modest. Solicitors commonly charge a percentage of the estate or an hourly rate. Capital acquisitions tax is charged at 33 % above the beneficiary's group threshold, with a full exemption between spouses and civil partners and a dwelling-house relief in defined circumstances.

Where to go

• Probate Office and District Probate Registries
• Revenue Commissioners, for capital acquisitions tax
• Law Society of Ireland, for solicitor referrals
• Citizens Information, for plain-language guidance
• Courts Service, for contested applications

Frequently asked questions

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