Who’s going to get your dosh? Wills & Inheritance Discussion

I honestly hadn't thought too much about this until this thread

As it stands right now, I'll be buying a place later this year with my wife, who, due to a much healthier lifestyle, is likely to outlive me by a significant amount of years. As a result I'll just be leaving everything to her.

On the remote chance that I survive her, I'll revisit the situation then, at which point I'll probably set things up so that my step-sons get a portion, along with my neices and nephews.

I don't plan on worrying about the tax implications, I'll be dead

magicbastarder

markodaly wrote: »

Giving it to charity is also unearned.

also, if properly regulated, a charity *does* earn its income.
simply taking money from my dead parents because they have 300k to give me does not mean i have 'earned' it.

as it stands, under current law, i could inherit i think about a third of a million, tax free, and use it to buy a vintage ferrari, hair extensions, and a permatan. charities are regulated and (in theory) must spend the money on their stated aims, to the betterment of society.

beauf

Been a lot of scandals with charities. Don't forget about fair deal either. Lots of rules around that. If you want to pass on your wealth as you wish.

Inheritance is a curious mechanism, especially when you consider who gains most from it.

https://youtu.be/MRpEV2tmYz4

While we might disagree with the ideas here. There seems to be agreement that kids are a huge financial commitment, drain etc. Unsound financially.

I don't know enough about the economics of inheritance as it effects society at large but it is different in other countries. It would be interesting to see how it works in other places and other society's and it's it better than here.

This is an interesting thread though.

Personally, I'd have no interest in leaving money to charity. I've seen too many (both national and local) 'financial irregularities' to bother.

My brother has two kids, so I'd likely just leave to them. I don't have a will yet, though, as my dad is still alive and kicking, and I wouldn't begrudge him the small amount I already have (I just automatically presume it'd go to him - could be wrong!)

Hi guys,
Thanks for contributions to date- it’s great reading through the thread and seeing the penny drop for some of you in relation to niece/nephew inheritance tax implications- while this is a topic I’ve been fairly informed on for years now, I’m also aware that a lot of people don’t know the basics which is so important if your wishes are to be implemented after you die.

Here’s another example from my personal and direct experience:

Childfree married couple husband and wife, make their will about 20 years ago (both in 80s now)
Husband has no living family so all estate to go to wife’s 4 siblings.
Roll on 20 years and wife now has advanced dementia- husband still sharp mentally.
Some of the wife’s siblings have died- the rest are old and being well looked after.
Husband does new will giving their estate to the wife’s nieces and nephews which makes more practical sense and nominates an executor.

So here is how things will play out -if husband dies before wife, then it’s the original will from 20 years ago that will get implemented. If wife dies first, the husbands new will kicks in.

So lesson here really is, if you make a will, do go back and review it as you get older-fair dues to the husband here as he’s very old himself - not everyone would do this.

if you nominated a relative as executor make sure they’re still around or in the right health- if you’re giving all to just brothers and sisters remember they will possibly be as old as you or older or dead by the time you die, assuming average life span of all.

fits

Another point to consider that folks might not be aware of. If you consider leaving a large amount to someone with a disability they could lose their benefits if it’s not done in a particular way. So getting advice is really important as things may pop up that you haven’t considered.

Tbh, if my niece & nephew are lucky enough to get a windfall of a few hundred thousand euro each, then I would hope they wouldn't be put out because they have to pay some tax!
If I was lucky enough to be left some money in a will, which I won't be, I would be delighted with whatever I got. I wouldn't waste my time worrying about the money gone on tax!

magicbastarder

beauf wrote: »

Been a lot of scandals with charities.

of course there has, but the number of scandals is *vastly* outweighed by the number of charities.

bubblypop

bubblypop wrote: »

Tbh, if my niece & nephew are lucky enough to get a windfall of a few hundred thousand euro each, then I would hope they wouldn't be put out because they have to pay some tax!
If I was lucky enough to be left some money in a will, which I won't be, I would be delighted with whatever I got. I wouldn't waste my time worrying about the money gone on tax!

The thread is not about tax per-se it’s about making informed decisions. It’s likely some tax will be paid in most wills where there are no children inheriting and even then depending on value of estate there can be tax liabilities for dependents also.

Say you leave your sister 100k with the intention of it helping out her 5 children- with tax free allowance of 32,500 for siblings, the rest taxed at 33%, this means your sisters family now has less than 80k- had you willed 20k to each of the 5 dependents of your sister or split between sister and her dependents, assuming they did not receive any other inheritances no tax is due- soy they’re benefiting from the full 100k

gmisk

I honestly think smallish amount to my niece and nephews and the rest to a dog charity, maybe dogs trust.

pinkypinky

bb12 wrote: »

this is a personal bugbear of mine. in my opinion the inheritance tax burden on childless people is complete discrimination in this country. i spend my whole life working and paying tax and then paying a mortgage out of the income that is left...all for the taxman to come along and grab another 33% after i'm gone. just because i have no kids. if the system was fair childless people should be able to nominate a couple of people to avail of the same thresholds that people with kids have. it's completely unjust in my view. the taxman must be laughing all the way to back especially with the rise in people not having kids in recent times.

i would love to leave my property to a niece or nephew to help keep it in the family as it was passed down to me...but i would end up leaving them with a huge tax bill and they would probably have to sell it just to settle that bill

completely unfair and unequal in my view and i don't know why this hasn't been challenged more over the years

Because most people have children and it's therefore deemed largely irrelevant.

quickbeam

I have no family, and I don't trust charities. I actually don't know who to pass stuff on when I'm gone. It's a genuine concern.

quickbeam

quickbeam wrote: »

I have no family, and I don't trust charities. I actually don't know who to pass stuff on when I'm gone. It's a genuine concern.

Me me me

Maybe think about what interests you like the Arts, Sport, etc maybe there’s a way of willing your estate to the arts council or Sport Ireland or say The Abbey Theatre ?
Also lots of old heritage houses open to the public in the hands of the OPW which always need funds and are benefiting society as a whole

Faith

quickbeam wrote: »

I have no family, and I don't trust charities. I actually don't know who to pass stuff on when I'm gone. It's a genuine concern.

Science, research, academia, the community, perhaps?

I think I'd like to leave a good chunk to areas close to my heart, something like research into nasty diseases in cats and dogs in the hope of helping to find a cure, or possible something in human disease research.

bb12

bb12 wrote: »

i would love to leave my property to a niece or nephew to help keep it in the family as it was passed down to me...but i would end up leaving them with a huge tax bill and they would probably have to sell it just to settle that bill

They would probably just get a very easily secured mortgage for the relevant amount of less than a third of the property value, to be fair

pinkypinky

I'm heavily involved with a family history society and though I haven't made a plan yet, I do want to leave a bequest to them.

markodaly

markodaly wrote: »

Giving it to charity is also unearned. Just saying...
Put it this way, why should the state or a charity, like the RCC, have a right to one's assets more so than a son or daughter or a niece or nephew?

They shouldn't! But thats a different matter.

The irish system does have protections for a person's home, as i understand it

Im not fully au fait but if a nephew/niece were to inherit a home they had been living in themselves for a period and was to be their home going forward i believe they get certain considerations

magicbastarder

bb12 wrote: »

i would love to leave my property to a niece or nephew to help keep it in the family as it was passed down to me...but i would end up leaving them with a huge tax bill and they would probably have to sell it just to settle that bill

this presumes that you want them to move into the property, though, does it? it may not suit them to do so.
or else you're leaving it to them to rent out, which may not be your desired outcome, it's not really a 'family home' if it's an investment property.

also; leaving property to someone because you want to keep it in the family could create an unfair burden or obligation on them; if you leave someone property, you should accept that they should be able to sell it at the drop of a hat if they wish, and not keep it in the family because that's what you wanted.

as above, if you did want to leave it to a nibling, and they did want to live in it, i suspect moving them in with you first is the most effective way around a lot of inheritance tax concerns.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The thread is not about tax per-se it’s about making informed decisions. It’s likely some tax will be paid in most wills where there are no children inheriting and even then depending on value of estate there can be tax liabilities for dependents also.

Say you leave your sister 100k with the intention of it helping out her 5 children- with tax free allowance of 32,500 for siblings, the rest taxed at 33%, this means your sisters family now has less than 80k- had you willed 20k to each of the 5 dependents of your sister or split between sister and her dependents, assuming they did not receive any other inheritances no tax is due- soy they’re benefiting from the full 100k

I'm aware of how it works. If someone has to pay a bit of tax because I left them money, they are still lucky enough to get free money.

irish_goat

Myself and the wife were discussing this recently. We'll probably look at some sort of equity release on the house and use the funds to travel and generally live well. Any leftovers will probably go to our nieces and nephews and likely to a local animal charity that my wife will probably have set up or be involved in when she's retired. :pac:

PMBC

I don't have much now and I doubt I will in the future and have no property,
If I predecease my wife everything/anything will go to her. If its the opposite everything will be split between my god-child 10% and my two children 45% each. I will leave oit to the older to organise and both are very honest people.
But 10% of little will be 'littler' still. I have a nice watch which will go to one and some hi-fi which will go to the other. If they want to 'hock' those I wont mind/be beyond caring.
I wont be making a will. I saw the colossal charges on my mother's estate and said f*** that.

I would like to release the equity in my house when I get to 70 or so and spend it on women, wine and song. Looking at the current providers of these equity release schemes, they would only give me a lump sum of 25% of the house value. I know they have to cover themselves in case I live to get a card from the president, but given current life expectancy and interest rates, I thought they would be willing to lend more.

irish_goat

irish_goat wrote: »

Myself and the wife were discussing this recently. We'll probably look at sone sort of equity release on the house and use the funds to travel and generally live well. Any leftovers will probably go to our nieces and nephews and likely to a local animal charity that my wife will probably have set up or be involved in when she's retired. :pac:

The King Puck retirement village

waxmelts2000

Hi, just came across this thread. I'm nearing 50 pretty soon - I have my will made over 15 years or so. It's funny as I recently just requested a copy as I could not remember the details!

My parents and my god son will get my house 33% each, sell it or else they gift to my godson ( 2 years left in mortgage)
Any cash I have is to be split across my siblings (4) and if one of those die before me then their kids

I am worth more dead than alive though (in death service policy at work) so I often joke with that statement.

So I guess there will be tax implications for all based on 32,500 limit is that correct?

waxmelts2000

waxmelts2000 wrote: »

Hi, just came across this thread. I'm nearing 50 pretty soon - I have my will made over 15 years or so. It's funny as I recently just requested a copy as I could not remember the details!

My parents and my god son will get my house 33% each, sell it or else they gift to my godson ( 2 years left in mortgage)
Any cash I have is to be split across my siblings (4) and if one of those die before me then their kids

I am worth more dead than alive though (in death service policy at work) so I often joke with that statement.

So I guess there will be tax implications for all based on 32,500 limit is that correct?

Hi and thanks for posting. Unfortunately boards.ie rules prevent “advice” so I just need to be cautious on how I reply .

If you click on the link at the start of this thread you’ll see the current revenue limits for inheritance tax.
If your godson is a nephew then his inheritance tax free allowance is 32500 over his lifetime not just on a per inheritance basis. If he’s a non relative allowance is less- currently 16250

Some information on house inheritances here which might help or be applicable to your particular circumstance in the future
https://www.revenue.ie/en/gains-gifts-and-inheritance/cat-exemptions/exemption-for-dwelling-house/index.aspx


Inheritance threashold from child to parent listed here currently 335k- but you have to die first
https://www.moneyguideireland.com/inheritance-tax-in-ireland.html

assuming you outlive your parents then it’s your godson who will inherit your house - there will certainly be tax implications then at current rate of 33% minus any tax free allowance threshold he hasn’t used up -

In terms of siblings it again depends on what other inheritances they have got or will get before you die as to what tax free threshold they will have. Then it’s down to just how much dosh you have to share with them and their children which will dictate if tax is due or not.
Remember you may inherit monies in years to come also or you may have very little cash left but still have your house etc- so lots to consider
hope this helps

waxmelts2000

Thank you for replying PlentyOhToole, yes my godson is my nephew.

I'll definitely take a look at the recommended sites!

The_Conductor

Hi all- just to reiterate what was mentioned a few posts up- while we can discuss the implications of the various options we might make when we are doing up our wills etc- offering financial advice per se, is verbotten on the site.

Please keep this in mind- and while its nice to read of everyone's plans and how folk might address what they intend to happen when they depart this mortal coil, lets keep away from offering specific advice to one another.

If you need specific information- please seek professional financial advice from someone qualified to offer such- and keep in mind that all our situations are different, something that is suitable for one person might be a folly for another.

Thanks!

The_Conductor

The_Conductor wrote: »

Hi all- just to reiterate what was mentioned a few posts up- while we can discuss the implications of the various options we might make when we are doing up our wills etc- offering financial advice per se, is verbotten on the site.

Please keep this in mind- and while its nice to read of everyone's plans and how folk might address what they intend to happen when they depart this mortal coil, lets keep away from offering specific advice to one another.

If you need specific information- please seek professional financial advice from someone qualified to offer such- and keep in mind that all our situations are different, something that is suitable for one person might be a folly for another.

Thanks!

Thanks The_Conductor- thread now with added Poll and referencing this mod warning. Cheers

Nody

I guess we're going to be an odd one out here but I'm planning to leave behind a sizable fortune behind when we die. We're working towards to live out our retirement on dividends rather than trusting the state (ha!) or pension companies to actually give us enough money to live on. As part of that plan 10% of the yearly dividends get invested, 90% gets put in a bank account and split by 12 for next year's "salary". Once both of us die the primary goal will be to ensure our pets get to live a long and happy life until their natural deaths (with a stipend to the people who look after them as incentive). My sister's children will get enough money for a down payment on their first apartment and the rest will be put in a fund in Luxemburg (preliminary plan; we've got a solicitor we are talking with on the topic) that will continue to own the shares and pay out the dividends (minus the 10% reinivested) every year to a set of causes we which to promote. This means we also got an personal interest in making sure we grow the funds as large as possible for obvious reasons.