# Do I need a Solicitor or an Accountant



## kkilkenny (31 Oct 2012)

I have not had any dealings with either so im not sure where to go for help at this point.

My mother died in 1998, was ill before this and I was in my teens. My grandmother lived with us since we moved over here from the uk. 

Before she died, herself and my grandmother completed a sale on a house so we would have somewhere to live when she passed away. I dont have any more details on the sale of the house, but i do know that our holiday home in galway (which i assume was in my mothers name) was sold to fund the purchase of the new house.

My grandmother passed in 2008 and the house was valued at 300k, it sold in 2010 for 200k and was split between myself and my sister. The solicitor seems to have gotten things wrong big time cos the forms that were filled out for the inheritance, she was supposed to put down the value at date of death but i think she put down the amount the house sold for, because the revenue have written to me now saying I owe 10k more. 

I have been in touch with the solicitor that dealt with my grandmother and she is insisting that she was correct in the way the form was filled and that the revenue are just trying to be difficult. 

She had previously appealed 2.5k interest which she has been holding on our behalf. This is interest that was applied to the tax which was due to be paid at the end of 2008 but we couldnt because we didnt have money to pay it and the house wasnt sold so we could only pay this tax when we sold the house.

So I have received a letter from the revenue saying I owe 10k more now unless i can explain why the figures were different on the form that was filled in by her on my behalf. Its all a bit of a mess and im extremely upset about it as I still think that if the solicitor in question had dealt with this whole issue correctly I may not have needed to pay any tax as it was my mothers money that bought the house, but I cant say for sure as I dont have the details, and I dont know if it would make any difference even if it was.

Im not sure if I should be trying to say all this to a solicitor of my choice, or should i be speaking to an accountant. If I contacted a solicitor could they get all the details needed from my mothers solicitor and if so does all this cost much money? Im sorry but I have not had dealings before and I cant really afford to make any more mistakes, I should have opened my mouth more when she had passed away but I kind of assumed that she would be able to do her job correctly but unfortunately we have gotten nothing but bad advice from her ever since my mother started dealing with her.

Also my trust in solicitors isnt the best so if anyone has any recommendations for solicitors in either waterford or kilkenny, i would be most grateful.


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## WizardDr (31 Oct 2012)

@kkilkenny

At first glance I am wondering why there was capital acquisitions tax at all. 

The way you have described this sounds to me like the Grandmother was acting as trustee for your mother and it was her intention that the children would have a place to live. 

I am at a loss why it is the structure of this appears to be an inheritance from your grandmother and not your mother.

I can only go on what you tell me. 

So you need to clarify:
- did you inherit from your mother at all?
- What does your mothers will say - is it available?
- What does your grandmothers will say - is it available?
- How did it arise that what appears to have been your principal residence (you did live there?) which seems to be held on trust for you by the grandmother ends up
being an inheritance from her and taxed when it seems should have been from your mother.

Are crucial details missing?

Establsihing all the facts seems to be the first thing to do.

You could either go to an accountant; solicitor; FLAC or alternatively contact Revenue if you have command of all the facts.


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## kkilkenny (31 Oct 2012)

My grandmother had always told me that she was only looking after the place and that it was ours, but it seems that it was fully in her name as I have tried to search for a will from my mother and she does not have one, I obtained a copy of my grandmothers will which basically leaves the house to myself and my sister, there is no other money/assets which either she or my  mother had. Could a solicitor get all these details from their solicitor as I think I will have a pretty hard time getting them myself.

So no I inherited from my grandmother. The wording leaves the house to myself and my sister, which means we pay inheritance tax on the value of the house when she died (300k) as opposed to the amount of money we got when it finally got sold (200k)
Neither myself or my sister had lived in the house for a good few years as I had gone off to college, my sister had lived up the road from her and cared for her from there.

I suspect it may all be correct, but after the quite large mistake that the solicitor appears to have made in regards to the tax we should have paid, I want to see all the facts as Im not sure if she may have made more mistakes. My grandmother and mother were both quite trusting people and would have basically done whatever the solicitor said was best, which may have been all wrong!

I think i will contact a solicitor and see what they say, I just wanted opinion as to whether something like this is worth looking into, Im quite angry also that this solicitor can make such large mistake filling out forms and I have to pay money to another solicitor to get it sorted. I dont have the 10k that the revenue now say I may owe, I have at most 5k in savings so Im hesitant to pay another solicitor to try and resolve this but i dont know what else to do.


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## WizardDr (31 Oct 2012)

@kkilkenny 

What is most important are the words "..My grandmother had always told me that she was only looking after the place and that it was ours, but it seems that it was fully in her name..."

This is looking to me like a classic secret trust. By that I mean on the face of the will your mother bequethed the property to your grandmother  but it seems clear the intended beneficiaries were her children - yourself and your sister.

You solicitor may only have got involved at the stage that you understood you had inherited from your grandmother. So I would be a little skeptical that your solicitor knew all the facts - you may have forgotten them at the time or whatever. 

The issue about the date of the inheritance disregarding the issue of your late mother might be the date you became absolutely entitled to the property which may be the date your grandmother died and not the date of sale. And in a falling property market ..

So I would:
- go back to your solicitor without anger and have a discussion.

If that does not deliver anything I would be happy to recommend an Accountant 
who I think would get at the facts - which are all important here as this looks like
a negotiation with the Revenue. He wont be avaialable until Nov 16th (!)

Hope that helps


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## Bronte (5 Nov 2012)

kkilkenny said:


> I have been in touch with the solicitor that dealt with my grandmother and she is insisting that she was correct in the way the form was filled and that the revenue are just trying to be difficult.
> 
> .


 
That's a very strange response.  Either the form was filled out correctly or it was not.  So your solicitor needs to deal with this.  If it was incorrectly filled out by the solicitor and caused you to be at a loss then the solicitor should have to compensate you.


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## Pat404 (5 Nov 2012)

There is a solicitor in Waterford who is also an accountant.  I don't know if I am allowed to mention him?  John P O'Donohoe Solicitors,  Waterside, Waterford. He helped me out last year. Good luck to you. Hope it works out for you.


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## WizardDr (5 Nov 2012)

Its when the original poster stops posting - makes me wonder are folk appreciative of the help they get from posters here. Maybe a tad sensitive today as the minority group file tax returns around now.


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## Creaky Bones (17 Nov 2012)

WizardDr said:


> Its when the original poster stops posting - makes me wonder are folk appreciative of the help they get from posters here. Maybe a tad sensitive today as the minority group file tax returns around now.


 Don't be disheartened WizardDr, you are giving good advice, which is much appreciated by othera viewers of this site!!


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## WizardDr (19 Nov 2012)

@Creaky Bones many thanks


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## mandelbrot (19 Nov 2012)

Pat404 said:


> There is a solicitor in Waterford who is also an accountant.  I don't know if I am allowed to mention him?  John P O'Donohoe Solicitors,  Waterside, Waterford. He helped me out last year. Good luck to you. Hope it works out for you.



I knew his name rang a bell - http://www.munster-express.ie/local-news/accountant-found-‘not-guilty-by-jury/


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