Recommend a solicitor in Meath /Dublin for making a will with good financial advice on inheritance

As the title says looking for recommendations for an experienced solicitor who can advise and assist with making a will keeping in mind inheritance taxes and financial planning.
Will would involve a couple of rented properties along with home residence and
Bank accounts.
Any advice welcome

I think you are approaching this incorrectly.

You should sit down with a tax advisor and agree a succession plan.

Then give that to any solicitor to implement.

There may well be a solicitor who specialises in inheritance tax planning.

Brendan

Thanks Brendan. Any recommendations for a good tax advisor to begin this journey.

Any accountant should be able to advise you and if there is some complexity above their pay grade, they should escalate it.

I have to disagree with Brendan. Your succession plan should start with defining the outcomes you wish to achieve in terms of inheritances to beneficiaries.

Taxes are certainly an issue (but only one issue) to be taken into consideration in drafting your will.

Tax considerations should follow from first setting out your desired outcome(s) with your solicitor. Taxes should never be the main consideration.

If your affairs are sufficiently complex to warrant specialist tax advice, your solicitor will tell you to get that advice.

I should say that I am a solicitor experienced in probate and wills. I am also an expert in capital taxes and I am not by any means a rare and exotic thing in my profession.

If you want a solicitor in Meath who specialises in wills and estates (including estate taxes) you could very usefully go to Elaine Byrne in Athboy, County Meath.

MOB said:

Your succession plan should start with defining the outcomes you wish to achieve in terms of inheritances to beneficiaries.

Click to expand...

Fully agree with that. And if there is a family business or a family home, sorting those out is the priority.

But the next priority for most people is tax efficiency.

MOB said:

I should say that I am a solicitor experienced in probate and wills. I am also an expert in capital taxes and I am not by any means a rare and exotic thing in my profession.

Click to expand...

Is there a register of solicitors who are also members of the Tax Institute? I know that in the distant past, solicitors were tax advisors, but I was under the mistaken impression that they had moved out of that field and tended to refer clients to tax specialists.

I remember when training as an accountant in the 80s a few solicitors were employed as tax consultants.

Brendan Burgess said:

But the next priority for most people is tax efficiency.

Click to expand...

My own perception Brendan both from work and from life is that tax efficiency is a very minor factor for most people when drafting wills.

Wow!

That really surprises me. But I suppose it is the size of the estate.

if there are 10 children and an estate worth €500k, then I could see why the parent might not be concerned.

Brendan

Brendan Burgess said:

Wow!

That really surprises me. But I suppose it is the size of the estate.

if there are 10 children and an estate worth €500k, then I could see why the parent might not be concerned.

Brendan

Click to expand...

It's not even that Brendan. We're forever telling people here that it is a bad idea to bequeath a house jointly to a number of beneficiaries unless the plan is to imminently sell it - even though that is technically an advisable option if the overriding motive is to minimise the overall tax burden.

People all the time make decisions about to whom they wish to bequeath cash or valuable assets, and leave the tax considerations to be addressed by the beneficiaries.

I'd guess that a clear majority of inheritances from uncle/aunts are of entire properties/cash holdings to a favourite niece/nephew of perhaps jointly to two nieces or nephews. It would obviously be cheaper from a tax viewpoint to bequeath these to as many nieces or nephews as possible but that doesn't really concern people, and wills are rarely structured in such a fashion.

Also, in over 30 years in accounting practice, I have never once been asked to draft a succession plan as you suggest above.

For what it's worth...

I think people should get into the habit of leaving clear instructions in their wills, for properties to be immediately put on the market by the executors and sold, with proceeds then split amongst the beneficiaries, net of costs.

That immediately removes the risk of disputes between parties regarding sell or don't sell, what price top accept, if someone can continue to live in the house free etc etc.


For those with more valuable estates, Section 72 policies are also worth considering.

MrEarl said:

I think people should get into the habit of leaving clear instructions in their wills, for properties to be immediately put on the market by the executors and sold, with proceeds then split amongst the beneficiaries, net of costs.

Click to expand...

I know of a family where this was done, and when both parents later died suddenly in quick succession, the mandated immediate sale of the family home and farm culminated in the other siblings having to obtain a court order to force the eviction of the youngest sibling, then barely an adult. The youngest sibling had nowhere else to go and apart from a small inheritance, barely a penny to their name.

To make matters worse, the mandated immediate sale of the property took place when relevant property prices were in deep slump. Had the family been able to wait even a few years before selling up, they'd have at least doubled the sale proceeds.

60 years on, the ensuing family rift hasn't yet fully healed.