Refusing an Inheritance

jpd said:
When you disclaim an inheritance, you have no say in where it goes or who gets it.

It goes back into the residue of the estate and is distributed accordingly
Click to expand...
You do and you don’t, in that, yes, it’s problematic from a tax perspective to disclaim in favour of someone else, but if you know who’s getting the residue or who the intestacy rules will favour, then you have a say in a manner of speaking.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Surely the tax liability falls on the estate? If the tax liabilities exceed the value of the assets, they can't give me the apartment.

Brendan
Click to expand...
Yes the tax liability falls on the estate. The executor can sell and discharge the debt to Revenue (the creditor in my case).

Or (as happened in my case), the executor can give a choice to the main beneficiary (me): either I sell the property and pay the tax and you get nothing. Or you pay the tax and get the property. In my instance the estate was the property and the outstanding liability was roughly equal to the value of the property at the time.

My point though is that becoming a so-called accidental landlord brought on more hassle than inheriting the property was worth. As soon as I took ownership I had to invest in renovating it and the rental monies received never really covered the cost of inheriting the thing.

Yet.
 
A beneficiary has no legal right to know the terms of a will before probate is granted - after that it is, of course, a public document
 
As for tax liability, strictly speaking it is the liability of the recipient although the executor is responsible for ensuring that tax bills are paid before the net value, if any, is distributed.
 
I have seen situations where wills have been disputed for all kinds of reasons and it muddies the waters quite a bit. If someone is looking at time and legal costs to fight for what they might or might not inherit I can see why some might just not want to or indeed be able to afford to do that....
 
I don’t think I have come across a will where there wasn’t some form of argument. Largely frivolous and even in cases where the siblings are left equal shares (eg where one of those siblings benefited more in life from the testator than the others, or where one sibling claims a debt on the estate for all the dinners they cooked the deceased during their lifetime).

I have seen a wholly vexatious Section 117 claim being brought by a son against a father’s estate out of sheer maliciousness and jealousy (to “settle old scores”) in the full knowledge that he was not exposed to the court costs and that those costs would come from the estate, thereby whittling down the value of the estate.
 
Is the original query just of academic interest?
Because it has been answered in the second post.
Yes there is a mechanism by which you can decline/disclaim a bequest.

If it's not simply of academic interest then it may help to post specific details about the real world case so that people can comment.
 
jpd said:
A beneficiary has no legal right to know the terms of a will before probate is granted - after that it is, of course, a public document
Click to expand...
Interesting. I never knew that. So, if i'm the executor and the beneficiary of a will, can probate be taken out without my consent?
 
jpd said:
As for tax liability, strictly speaking it is the liability of the recipient although the executor is responsible for ensuring that tax bills are paid before the net value, if any, is distributed.
Click to expand...
This is the inheritance tax you mean?
What if tax is owed by the disponer or the estate (say in the case of a trust), I assume that is payable by the estate and before any inheritance is taken or taxed ?
 
noproblem said:
Interesting. I never knew that. So, if i'm the executor and the beneficiary of a will, can probate be taken out without my consent?
Click to expand...
As executor, you are responsible for probate, so no, probate can not be taken out by a third party unless they get a court order because of inaction on the part of the executor
 
On a Plain said:
This is the inheritance tax you mean?
What if tax is owed by the disponer or the estate (say in the case of a trust), I assume that is payable by the estate and before any inheritance is taken or taxed ?
Click to expand...
Yes, I was talking about inheritance tax. In Ireland, it is always paid by the recipient.

Tax owed by the disponer or tax due from the estate eg CGT on gains between the death of the testator and the disposal of an asset is payable by the estate and is deducted from the value of the estate
 
jpd said:
Tax owed by the disponer or tax due from the estate eg CGT on gains between the death of the testator and the disposal of an asset is payable by the estate and is deducted from the value of the estate
Click to expand...
Would the usual course of action in that case be the sale of the estate or assets of it to pay the tax owed? I am thinking of cases where there are disputes or claims and that could drag on, how the Revenue view that in terms of fines and penalties ?
 
If an estate owes a lot of tax that is payable by the estate, can the person inheriting pay that so that they get the asset in one piece?

For example, your granny leaves you her only asset, her house in her will. Unfortunatly your Granny owes the Revenue a lot of tax that is payable from her estate. You want to get the house so you offer to pay all taxes owed yourself...
 
Yes, of course you can.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register