Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues?

My mother was reared by her aunt, and before she died her aunt left a will with her solicitor stating that her home house and land (21 acres) be left to my mother.

Is this land now automatically my mothers, and just involve a straight transfer to her name or will she have to pay capital gains?

Also if my mother has to pay capital gains, she knows she wouldn't be able to afford it, can she sell off some off the land she has been left to pay it .

With many thanks.

Re: Land Issue

Damac. Sorry for your family loss. Simple answer - no - your Mum cannot simply transfer the house and lands to her name. Depending on other assets and beneficiaries, the estate of the deceased must go to Probate and nothing can be done before that. There is no CGT liability but Capital Acquisitions Tax must be paid (otherwise known as Inheritance Tax). Unless your Mum was formally adopted by her Aunt, there is a very low allowance for inheritance from Aunty to Niece. When did your Mum's Aunty die ?? This is important as Tax must be paid by a defined time after Probate. As well the value will be determined on the date she died, the location of the property inherited which will be determined by an Independent Valuer. Any other questions send me a PM if you wish.

Re: Land Issue

A dumb question here: what happens after probate? Do you get a solicitor to do conveyancing to get the deeds in the inheritors name?

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

In most cases, 99.9 %, the solicitor deals with the Probate and includes in their duties the matter of distributing and conveyance the assets to the beneficiaries

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

Damac -- i am back now. I assume you got the PM i sent you. I think that it advisable that you (or your mother) find a solicitor in this country fairly sharp.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

Your mother might qualify for relief as a de facto adoptee -it depends on things like her age, her own family circumstances, the age at which she went to live with her aunt etc. The rationale is that in the past adoption was not as formal as now. She will probably need professional advice and if this is a likely route for her there will be a need for third party affidavits confirming the circumstances.
The oterh possible exemption is "dwellinghouse relief" if you mother was living with your aunt up to her inheritance.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

putscg - from the original OP, in the normal course of events your thoughts could be considered, I don't think at this time your suggestions will work, as the Aunt has died and more important time has progressed since the death and matters do require to be handled urgently. From the location and abode of the OP I do not think the residence bit has a part to play

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

Perhaps you are right Mercman but on the basis of the post it is not clear.

I recently obtained relief from CAT for two separate cases on facts similar to those posted so this avenue should be fully explored.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

Your mum should contact a solicitor who should be able explain the full process from extracting a Grant of Probate to transferring the land and paying any tax. As stated above she might qualify for reliefs on Capital Acquisitions Tax on the grounds of the Dwelling House relief, and maybe on the grounds of Favourite Niece/Nephew relief or agricultural relief. Most solicitors are able to advise on these issues.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

In certain circumstances(and every case is dealt with on its own merits) the OPs mother may be treated as a foster child of the Aunt(this includes informal fostering and in circumstances where the word fostering was never even used) and in such cases the threshold for cat is the same as between parent and child.

In any event please consult a solicitor whther there is an urgency( as Mercman says) or not.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

Madangan said:

In certain circumstances(and every case is dealt with on its own merits) the OPs mother may be treated as a foster child of the Aunt(this includes informal fostering and in circumstances where the word fostering was never even used) and in such cases the threshold for cat is the same as between parent and child.

Click to expand...

************************
I am very interested in your reply quoted above.
I was/am
in the same situation as the original posted.
(Left house by Late Aunt) who brought me up from the age of 4 to
age 25 when I left her/our home to marry.

My Aunt had no children of her own. Took three of us in, (one from an orphanage) when our mother disappeared., we were taken from mother due to neglect.
So basically Aunt was the only 'Mother' we knew.

Back to the point,
when estate was settled, the cat was calculated on
niece/aunt catagory.
That was ten years ago.
The solictor who drew up Aunt's will knew she reared us as her own.
So why did the situation you mention above never come into being.
(that we could have been considered fostered/adopted) when solicitor did probate? of Aunt's estate.
Is it now too late to do anything about this?
I still own the home she left me, (in Ireland) It is rented now

if I sell it, does this same catagory of cat come into being if I sell the house.
As a matter of interest, can you give what the cat would have been
if I was considered "adopted" or fostered.

What are the %s for each catagory.
Aunt/niece
Aunt/fostered child?

thank you for your help.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

trailite said:

.......
I was/am in the same situation as the original posted. (Left house by Late Aunt) who brought me up from the age of 4 to age 25 when I left her/our home to marry.
........
when estate was settled, the cat was calculated on niece/aunt catagory. That was ten years ago.
The solictor who drew up Aunt's will knew she reared us as her own.
........
Is it now too late to do anything about this? I still own the home she left me, (in Ireland) It is rented now.

if I sell it, does this same catagory of cat come into being if I sell the house.

As a matter of interest, can you give what the cat would have been if I was considered "adopted" or fostered.

What are the %s for each catagory.
Aunt/niece
Aunt/fostered child?

Click to expand...

AFAIK the change vis a vis foster children only came into being in December 2000 so if per your post your aunt died before that then your solicitor would have been correct.

CAT is not relevant to you selling but CGT (capital gains tax )maybe, whether you have a cgt liability will depend on whether you are entitled to any cgt exemption (e.g is it your principle private residence) and if not whether you have made a gain from the value of house when you purchased. In other words nothing to do with your relationship with your aunt.

Re: Mother reared by Aunt has inherited her home and land. Tax and Inheritance Issues

Thank you very much for your reply.

I don't feel too bad now, knowing that this "foster" Adoption ruling came much later.

I would imagine I am facing captial gains, if and when the house goes up for sale.
It is not my principal residence, and has increased about seventy thousand Euro in value since I inherited it. (just over ten years ago)
I own a share in the house, (not all of it) but that is another story.
*gr*
Thanks again