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Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Will I pay tax in Ireland if a US relative leaves me something in their will?
I am a naturalised US citizen, born and raised in Ireland, and living in the USA. I will be bequeathing 50 per cent of my estate to my sister (with the goal of her passing it on to her children). If she predeceases me, it will go directly to her children per stirpes. My estate would be probated in the USA (Texas specifically). What are the tax implications for my sister inheriting funds from a relative in the US? Would it be better to divide the bequest between her and her two children (1/3 each) to reduce the tax liability? Or would it be best to bequeath it directly to them in first place? I had neglected to even consider tax consequences until reading your column recently. READ MORE Mr DM The position on inheritance and taxation is very different in the US and in Ireland. While most states in the US, including Texas, have no inheritance tax , Ireland does. It apples if the person either giving the inheritance or receiving it is tax resident or ordinarily resident for tax here. Not that it matters here, but it also applies if the property subject to the inheritance that is situated in Ireland – even if neither the dead person or the beneficiary is resident here. In general with cross-border inheritances, there are taxation agreements between Ireland and those other countries that ensure you do not pay tax twice on the same inheritance. If the inheritance tax levied in another country is lower than the liability here, an Irish beneficiary would pay only the difference between that and the Irish liability where these double taxation agreements apply. Where the inheritance tax bill abroad is higher than it would be here, no tax is levied here but neither do you get any refund for the amount paid in the other country that is higher than your bill would have been in Ireland. With Texas, this is moot as you have no inheritance tax there. Apparently only five US states do have inheritance tax levied on beneficiaries. The US does also have a separate estate tax which is levied on estates of dead people which exceed a financial threshold. Again, Texas does not have an estate tax. There is a US federal estate tax which, if you were to die this year, would kick in if the estate you leave behind is worth more than $13.99 million (€11.9 million). That is adjusted every year: the 2025 figure is roughly $400,000 up on 2024. So that's the very cursory general picture on cross-border inheritance. What about the position of your sister and her children if and when they inherit from you. In Ireland, the amount you can inherit depends on your relationship with the dead person. The highest threshold – €400,000, or around $470,000 – is reserved almost solely for children inheriting from their parents. The thresholds fall sharply from there. Category B, which covers inheritances received from siblings, grandparents and aunts and uncles by blood – the relevant threshold for your sister and her children – is just €40,000. That figure is halved again for more remote relatives, in-laws and friends. And those thresholds are 'lifelong' – or at least they date back to any inheritance received from people in each category since December 5th, 1991. Gifts in excess of €3,000 are covered by the same regime and thresholds. So, assuming your sister and her children have never received a large gift or an inheritance from a sibling, a grandparent or some other aunt or uncle, they can take €40,000 tax free from you if you die this year. On anything over that amount, they will pay tax at 33 per cent. I say this year because, as with US federal estate tax, the threshold can rise and fall in Ireland from year-to-year although it is no longer linked to inflation or any other measure. Would it make more sense to give it all to your sister with the intention that it be evenly distributed to her children on her own death or allocate it directly to your sister and her children individually? Helpfully, that depends. Upfront, it is fairly straightforward. I've no idea of how much money is involved here nor how many children your sister has. Let's assume she has three children and the amount involved translates as €600,000. If that is left entirely to your sister, she will take €40,000 tax free assuming she has not taken an inheritance or large gift from anyone in Category B, as mentioned above. That would leave €560,000 subject to tax at 33 per cent – a tax bill of €184,800. After tax, she would have a net inheritance of €415,200 (560,000 – 184,800 + 40,000). If the money was instead split evenly and given directly in equal parts to your sister and her children, they would each get €150,000. On the same presumption as above, they take €40,000 tax free and pay €36,300 in tax on the balance of €110,000. After tax, each would have €113,700. Between the four of them, that comes to €454,800 – or close to €40,000 more than if the money was all given initially to your sister. Much depends on the amounts we are talking about here. If this portion of your estate comes to less than €40,000 per person, it would certainly make more sense to give it directly to your sister's children as it would not exceed each person's tax free threshold. If, using our example the €160,000 went instead initially to your sister, she would pay tax on three-quarters of it before anything can eventually be passed on to her children. And of course, if it did all go to your sister, several new factors come into play. While it is your goal that the money goes ultimately to your sister's children, if you leave it to her it will be entirely at her discretion whether that happens and, if it does, whether it is divided equally or whether every child is included in any division. Also, depending on what else she is leaving to her children, that money may be taxed again if it brings each niece or nephew's inheritance from their mother above the €400,000 – or whatever the threshold in place will be at that time. Assuming the plan is for the children to benefit ultimately, one way to avoid or reduce any future tax bill would be her to avail of the small gift exemption which would allow her to pass on €3,000 each year to each child from your inheritance that she is managing on their behalf. That would clearly reduce any amount that might be subject to tax later on. That is also an option for your right now if the amount you intend to leave amounts to more than €40,000 per person. The small gift exemption applies to the beneficiary not the donor so there is nothing to stop you gifting the equivalent €3,000 each year to each of your sister's children from the US, reducing any eventual tax bill on a future inheritance. You'll need to manage exchange rates if you do that as anything above €3,000 in any year comes off their inheritance tax free threshold. As a general rule, the best way to reduce tax on inheritance in Ireland is to spread it widely. The more recipients, the lower any ultimate tax bill. But of course, in this case, that is limited by the size of the family whom you wish to benefit. Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2, or by email to , with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
Daily Mail
19-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE He didn't know her, never visited, and wasn't at her funeral - yet this knife-wielding Romanian thug inherited a frail widow's home and sold it for £375,000 after police found a cannabis farm inside... so how DID his name end up on her will?
Neighbours of Eileen Holland say they never once saw the knife-wielding Romanian thug who inherited her house - not when she was alive, not at her funeral, and not even after police raided the modest 1930s semi and discovered it had been turned into a cannabis farm. Mrs Holland, a 90-year-old retired teacher and former Liberal Democrat council candidate, had lived alone for more than 40 years on Windsor Avenue in Uxbridge, West London. She had no children or close family and had become increasingly frail in her final years. Cataracts left her barely able to see, and neighbours regularly helped her read her post. When she was found dead inside her home in October 2019, police removed the only known set of keys. Her death was not treated as suspicious. With no will and no known next of kin, her name was added to the Government's Bona Vacantia list of unclaimed estates - presumed destined to pass into Crown ownership. And that, neighbours assumed, was the end of it. Then, almost four years later, a group of Eastern European men arrived at the property claiming they had 'found an heir' and were there to change the locks. The house had remained untouched since Mrs Holland's death, with her belongings still inside. Probate had been granted following the sudden appearance of a will - dated 24 February 2019, Mrs Holland's 90th birthday - which left £2,000 to the British Heart Foundation, £1,000 to the World Wildlife Fund, and 'the absolute entirety of the remainder of my estate as described above to Aurel Mezei.' None of her neighbours had ever heard the name. Aurel Mezei - a heavily tattooed 44-year-old from the northern Romanian city of Baia Mare - had never been seen visiting her during her lifetime and did not attend her funeral. His TikTok account shows him brandishing a zombie knife in one video, and flaunting a thick gold chain while smoking shisha bare-chested in another - a far cry from the sort of man a retired teacher might be expected to appoint as heir and executor in her final months. Within a fortnight of probate being granted, Mezei - already listed as director of four companies - registered a new business called Uxbridge Property Investments Ltd, using a flat near Heathrow Airport as the official address. 'I think they'd seen the house on the unclaimed estates list,' said one neighbour. 'I think they just backdated the will and inserted this Romanian businessman as the beneficiary.' The same resident said they had seen the signature on the document. 'It looks similar to hers,' they added, 'but it could well be a forgery.' When locals flagged their concerns to police - about the will, the men changing the locks, and the sudden appearance of a long-lost heir - they say they were told it wasn't a police matter. It took a second call, months later, to finally bring police to the door. This time, on 18 June 2024, the complaint was about six men acting suspiciously inside the house. Five fled the scene - and with good reason. The house had been gutted and turned into a full-scale cannabis factory. Abdi Gjeta, 41, was the only one left behind. He was arrested on the spot and later fined £187 after pleading guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis. Within two months of the police raid, he had offloaded the house for a cut-price £375,000 to a British-Indian developer based in Leicester via Galaxy Real Estate, a small agency based in Southall, West London. To process the sale, Mezei supplied them with copies of his passport, the grant of probate, Mrs Holland's will, and her death certificate. A source at the firm said that her home - once neat, quiet, and carefully kept - had been left in such disrepair that not a single photo could be taken for marketing. Since the sale, Mezei has not been seen in the UK. But a MailOnline investigation has uncovered serious doubts about how he came to inherit the property in the first place - and whether the will used to obtain probate was genuinely created before Mrs Holland's death. Under UK law, a will must be signed by two adult witnesses who confirm the person signed it voluntarily and in sound mind. The two individuals named on Mrs Holland's will had both died before the document emerged in late 2023 - and their families say they had no connection to her whatsoever. One of the witnesses was John Harry Zieger, described on the will as an electrician from Maida Vale. In reality, Mr Zieger was a retired barrister and Jewish Hungarian refugee who arrived in Britain during the Second World War. He died aged 89 in January 2023. His widow, journalist and author Alexandra Kirsta, told MailOnline she was 'appalled' to learn her late husband's name had been used on the document. 'I don't recognise the lady who passed away nor the benefactor of her will,' she said. 'I've checked my husband's address book and there is no reference to either. That is definitely not John's signature. 'He was not an electrician - he was a barrister, and a very private man not on social media. I find this appalling, it's creepy and incredibly intrusive. This man seems to be preying on the vulnerable and I just hope that he sees justice.' The second witness named on the will was Nelly Andersen, described as a 'retired' resident of a luxury flat near Borough Market in South London. In fact, she was a globetrotting senior executive at PR firm Ogilvy and remained in full-time work until shortly before her death aged 61 from cancer in 2021 - more than two years after the will was supposedly signed. Her sister Dorthe, speaking from their native Denmark, said: 'To my knowledge, Nelly did not know any of the persons mentioned and therefore did not sign any papers as a witness.' MailOnline examined the witness signatures and compared them to verified examples found in their own legal documents, including their personal wills. They didn't match. Despite the glaring inconsistencies, the will passed through probate without challenge. The witnesses were no longer alive, and no relatives contested it - leaving only the man who had everything to gain by saying nothing at all. Jeff Barnes, 64, from Enfield, is one of Mrs Holland's few surviving relatives. She was his great-aunt. 'I think this needs investigating a lot further,' he told MailOnline. 'It seems obvious to me that this is a scam, and that this so-called businessman got the house illegally. 'It's disgusting that he's been able to get away with it. He's wormed his way in, and I worry that slippery characters like this - who may or may not even still be in the country - often succeed in evading detection. Pictured: Andersen's signature on her own will 'The chances of him getting prosecuted are remote. But I hope I'm wrong.' Following the August 2024 sale, the property underwent a dramatic overhaul. The red brick was rendered over in a flat grey, the garage converted, and the attic expanded. Two more bedrooms were added, bringing the total to five. The rear of the house was extended with sharp, boxy lines that bore no relation to the original structure. The back garden - once green, planted, and cared for - was paved over entirely. At the far end now stands a 1,229 sq ft storage shed, painted the same slate grey as the rest of the house, dominating the small outdoor space. Inside, the original layout was stripped out and replaced with a generic modern design. The floors were covered in marble-effect tiling, and the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms were fitted with high-gloss units and white stone-effect surfaces - all finished in a cold, uniform palette with little trace of the home that came before. A sale was later agreed for £730,000 but collapsed two weeks ago after a Land Registry investigation caused delays. It is now under offer again at £600,000 - slightly above the £550,000 average for the street. The property sits in legal limbo. The paperwork that allowed it to change hands is still being examined. Most who knew Eileen Holland no longer live on Windsor Avenue - but those left haven't forgotten that the man who sold her house for £375,000 was never seen while she was alive.
Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Can I sell my dad's house while waiting for probate?
Q. We have been waiting for probate on my father's estate for three months and are becoming really anxious to sell his property in case the market turns. Is there anything we can do to hurry the process along, and can we get on with starting to sell the house in the meantime? Name supplied Since 2019 delays at the probate registry have been common and have posed a real challenge for many dealing with the administration of an estate, adding to the stress and uncertainty of what is already an extremely difficult time. While waiting times have shown some signs of improvement over the past year, the process unfortunately remains quite unpredictable. In our experience, some grants are being issued within as little as two weeks of the application, while others are taking up to 12 weeks. That said, 12 weeks is generally considered the upper limit in most cases, so I am hopeful that you will get the grant shortly.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Hungarian gang is forging wills to fleece families out of inheritances by posing as the rightful heirs
A criminal gang is stealing Britons' homes shortly after they die by forging wills and posing as the rightful heirs. The fraudsters are exploiting Britain's soft probate system, stealing from both grieving families and taxpayers. A BBC investigation found the gang targets individuals with no immediate family, producing fake wills after they die to falsely claim their estates. They then strip homes of valuables before selling them quickly for below market value to avoid inheritance tax. But the probate service has refused to investigate instances of suspected fraud, saying relatives must challenge such claims through the civil courts – a process that can cost tens of thousands of pounds. Sisters Lisa and Nicole discovered they were entitled to inherit a near £1million house in Wimbledon from their late aunt Christine Harverson, who they had not seen since childhood. But their inheritance was blocked when a Hungarian, Tamas Szvercsok, contacted the probate service with a will dated 2016, describing him as her 'dear friend' and naming him sole executor and beneficiary. Close inspection of the document revealed serious irregularities: Mrs Harverson was housebound in 2016 and being cared for by her husband Dennis, who died in 2020. As co-owner of the Wimbledon property, Mr Harverson's consent would have been required for it to be bequeathed. Also, the address provided for Mr Szvercsok in the will did not exist in 2016. Lisa said: 'There's nothing really we can do. I'm sure they've done it to others, which is really sad. 'Some people haven't got relatives to fight their corner. They're just getting away with making all this money off the dead. It's disgusting.' When someone dies with no known relatives, their estate eventually passes to the Treasury. Before that happens, it appears on a public list known as Bona Vacantia – Latin for 'vacant goods' – allowing anyone with a claim to come forward. Private firms scour the list daily in search of long-lost heirs. If successful, they take a share of the estate, a process featured in the BBC TV daytime series Heir Hunters. Tory ex-minister Sir Bob Neill said digitising the probate system to cut costs had created vulnerabilities being exploited by criminals. 'When you had regional offices you had human scrutiny that was better suited to pick up cases where things went wrong,' he said. 'An automated system isn't good at doing that.'
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Shadow World: The Grave Robbers, a new BBC Radio 4 podcast launches original investigation of gangs faking wills to steal inheritance
A new BBC Radio 4 podcast, Shadow World: The Grave Robbers, reveals the untold story of criminal gangs stealing houses from people who die without a recent will. Award-winning investigative reporter Sue Mitchell (Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion, Million Dollar Lover) reveals how a gang operating in the UK is stealing houses from people who die without a recent will. Over five episodes, Sue reveals a network of companies that connect the gang members and finds evidence linked to illegal drugs, money laundering and the sale of UK work visas. The series hears from victims of the gang, confronts its leaders and exposes the shortfalls of a creaking system that leaves many others at risk. Sisters discover they are due to inherit a significant sum from their estranged Aunt and probate is stopped in its tracks... In late 2023, sisters Lisa and Nicole found out they were due to inherit a significant sum from their estranged late Aunt Christine. Heir-identifying, Anglia Research Services, contacted the sisters to inform them their aunt had died, left no will and as her closest surviving relatives they were in line to inherit everything she owned. In return for a portion of the inheritance, companies like Anglia Research apply for a grant of probate – that is, the legal right to deal with the dead person's estate and arrange for any inheritance tax to be paid. The sisters reveal to Sue their initial surprise at learning they were to receive a life changing inheritance was followed by an even bigger shock. A Hungarian man by the name of Tamas Szvercsok had contacted the probate service, and produced a will describing him as Christine's 'dear friend'. It named him sole executor and beneficiary of her entire estate. The possibility that Mr Szvercsok was genuine, was not initially dismissed out of hand. Matt Boardman, former policeman, and current employee of Anglia Research Services, told the podcast: 'It happens, sometimes cases slip through the net and a will is unearthed'. However, there were clear signs that all was not what it seemed. Christine's neighbour and friend, Sue, said she had never mentioned a Hungarian friend at any point in the years they had known each other. The will was dated 2016 - Christine was housebound and disabled by this time, and receiving practically no visitors. Her home address was also misspelled on the will, and even though it was dated 2016, the address given for Mr Szvercsok was a block of flats that was not built until 2022. Matt Boardman contacted Mr Szvercsok, who replied by email: 'I never heard of any family. I'm the sole executor of her will.' Despite presenting what they thought was a strong case to police and the probate service, Lisa and Nicole say they were informed that there would be no investigation into Mr Szvercsok's will. The process has now been frozen. Mr Szvercsok has not been able to take possession of Mrs Christine Harverson's estate, but Lisa and Nicole have been told that they would have to bring a civil case if they wanted to prove that the will was a fake. That would cost tens of thousands of pounds which they do not have. Sue Mitchell says: 'We have this saying in the UK, safe as houses… once you have a house, no one can steal it from you… This is the story of criminals who steal other peoples' inheritance, to steal the homes of the dead, robbing them and their rightful heir. I'm going to explain how and you won't believe how simple it is. You won't believe it's going on right now and no one is stopping these thieves.' Shadow World: The Grave Robbers begins on BBC Sounds on Saturday 5 July. The first episode will be available on BBC Radio 4 from Wednesday 9 July at 9.30am New episodes will be released weekly. Listen to Shadow World: The Grave Robbers on BBC Sounds Presenter: Sue Mitchell Produced by: Sue Mitchell and Winifred Robinson Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams The Grave Robbers is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4. LS Follow for more
