Distribution of inheritance

p.mckee

Hi there,

Apologies of this is not in the correct forum - mods, please move if necessary. I checked the sticky's and Taxation forum but cannot find relevant information on this.

My brother who was working abroad for a couple of years passed away suddenly leaving no will. I was informed recently that he had a sizeable insurance policy in the country he was working in. Although we have a large family, I was the only named beneficiary on this policy.

The insurance company are processing his policy shortly and I have a few questions in relation to the distribution of the estate. I will not take any of the money from the benefit for myself but want to distribute it amongst other members of the family. What way will the inheritance tax work? Do I declare it prior to distributing it to the family? Our parents are still alive and I see there is special exemptions for some parents but it is not very clear what the exemptions are? Does anyone have knowledge of what the exemptions are?

Thanks in advance
P

Marcusm

You need to get some professional advice concerning deeds of family arrangements, directions, part disclaimers. If you don't do it right you can end up with a very inefficient arrangement. An Irish tax adviser will be needed to establish whether the policy forms part of your brother's estate (possibly not), whether he was Irish domiciled at the time of death and the appropriate means to achieve your desired ends, ie you tell him/her how much each is to get and he/she can advise the best means to achieve this. You'll also need advice in the country where he lived/where the insurer is based to ensure the proceeds are not subject to tax there.