I am the executor of the will of a friend. He is a single person with no dependents or children. His estate is substantial with a big home and lots of savings.
He has produced his own will with instructions to leave any savings and money assets, including the proceeds of the sale of his house, to his chosen registered charity. This was witnessed by two neighbours unknown to me who have left the country (and no address or typed names were given in the will – just signatures).
Will this bequest attract inheritance tax? Can his will be challenged successfully by any of his relatives?
MB
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Being named an executor is an expression of trust which is always reassuring to see in a friend but it can be a risky business and I fear your friend is doing you no favours here.
First up, there is every chance that the family will not be happy that everything in what you describe as a fairly substantial estate will go to charity with no recognition for any family member.
Will they challenge? That’s impossible to say but, certainly, there have been challenges for less in the Irish courts over wills.
Would they succeed? That’s impossible to say on the basis of the facts you have outlined.
I certainly share your concern at the lack of any identification or traceability for the witnesses. I cannot see anything in the legislation that states expressly that a witness must put their address and role/job detail alongside their signature but there are plenty of legal sites on the subject that suggest they do.
At the very least, it would have been good practice. Anyone who has had their will done through a solicitor will be familiar with the practice where staff from the firm are drafted in to witness the will. In my experience, they will always indicate their position and contact details – often including an email these days which is handy as we tend to hold on to those even when we move physical address.
If a challenge were taken and the witnesses could not be traced, it would certainly increase the risk of a successful challenge.
There is nothing to say you have to use a solicitor when drawing up a will but, clearly, the risks of getting something wrong increase if you choose not to do so. Wills are legal documents and the language is necessarily precise to avoid confusion – and, indeed, legal challenge.
I am certainly surprised that someone with substantial assets would not see the sense of spending a couple of hundred euro to ensure that their will is watertight, especially in a situation where they intend everything to go to charity rather than to family.
Your letter seems to suggest this friend is still alive. If that is so, it might be worth seeing if they can be persuaded to at least run the will by a solicitor and ideally get two new identifiable witnesses.
In terms of inheritance tax, I can put your mind at ease. Anything left in a will to a registered charity should not be subject to inheritance tax, so that is one less headache.
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Tax on inheritance received after four years
My married sister left me €30,000 in her will. She died in April 2022. I am a retired single woman living in Ireland with a public service pension. What are my tax liabilities on this inheritance. I only received the money in January 2026.
CM
The only tax relevant to an inheritance like this is capital acquisitions tax (CAT), which, if liable, is levied at 33 per cent. Income tax or any other tax is not an issue.
As always, the position with tax on an inheritance depends in large part of what previous inheritances or gifts in excess of €3,000 you may have received.
These accumulated sums are totted up separately, depending on the relation between you and the person who is leaving you this inheritance. In this case, as she was your sister, the relevant tax-free threshold is that applying to close blood relatives outside one’s parents – Group B.
The tax-free threshold there currently is €40,000. However, the relevant figure is determined by the date of the person’s death, not when you actually receive the money. And back in 2022, when your sister died, the tax-free limit on Group B was €32,500.
Now, if you have not received any qualifying inheritance or gift from any other sister, grandparent, aunt or uncle by blood, this €30,000 comes in under the €32,500 threshold and you will have no tax liability.
If you have already inherited €32,500 across all the people in this group – or got any gift from them in excess of €3,000 – then all of it would be taxed at 33 per cent, leaving you a €10,000 tax bill.
That’s the maximum exposure. If previous gifts and inheritances came to less that €32,500 but more than zero, you add this inheritance to the aggregate sum to calculate the tax owing.
One final thing: in relation to gifts of more than €3,000, it is only the amount in excess of €3,000 that counts against your lifelong tax-free threshold not the whole sum.
