I’m writing to you about an unusual situation. Very kind friends of mine looked after a man living in their housing estate – doing his shopping, taking him to hospital appointments and looking after some of his personal business.
They never thought he had a penny to his name and helped him out of Christian charity. They never took or expected any remuneration. After he died, they looked after the funeral, burial etc as he had no family.
It turned out he had money in the bank. Nearly €100,000. He also had a very valuable original painting.
The council cleared the house and no one knows what happened to his belongings. The money is still in the bank.
The gentleman had discussed making a will with his nurses and it seems he would have favoured my friends. Do they have any entitlement at all to his estate, considering they were his unpaid carers for a number of years?
Ms J.D.
It is lovely to hear stories of people who help out their neighbours out of sheer goodness. In a world where we hear of people being found long after they have died, unnoticed, unvisited and uncared for in an increasingly busy world, it reminds us of the real meaning of community.
And it seems clear that your friends had no ulterior motive in lending a hand to someone they felt was in a less fortunate position than themselves. Never mind running errands and offering transport for hospital visits, they actually picked up the tab for his funeral in the absence of family.
But none of that necessarily entitles them to anything from his estate by way of inheritance, now that it emerges the man actually did have some assets and savings. Still, that does not mean they are entitled to nothing in the circumstances you outline.
Let me explain.
There are two issues here – inheritance and costs incurred. Let’s start with the latter. The key thing here is that your friends looked after their neighbour’s funeral and burial as he did not appear to have any family.
Funeral expenses are a charge to an estate. In other words, we all pay for our own funerals in the end.
Normally it will be close family who make decisions on funeral arrangements. In their absence, or in the event of a dispute, it will be the responsibility of the executor to their estate if one is named in a will.
Either way, who pays those bills is entitled to claim the money back from the estate of the person who has died – as long as there is money available. In this case, with savings in the region of €100,000, your friends are fully entitled to claim back all funeral costs.
Funeral costs have, in law, first call on the assets in an estate alongside costs incurred in administering a person’s affairs after their death. They rank ahead of Revenue and other secured creditors such as banks, never mind unsecured creditors.
That is why, even though a dead person’s bank, An Post, credit union and other accounts are frozen on their death, the one charge they will accept against the account is the cost of a funeral as long as the person who incurred the costs, or is managing the estate, can provide an invoice and a death certificate.
But that’s as afar as it goes in terms of reclaiming costs. Any other financial outlays they incurred in caring for this neighbour are a matter of charity.
Then there is the will, if there is a will.
You say the man was looking at making a will and had indicated to his medical carers that he was minded to provide something for these neighbours. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.
The first thing is to find out if there is a will. Normally, that would be in the hands of whichever solicitor he worked with on drawing it up. And usually, especially in the absence of family, that solicitor would have contact details from the time the will was drawn up for any beneficiaries.
If so, the solicitor would get in touch with beneficiaries.
If they don’t hear from someone in due course, either there was no will or they were not named in it. Once any will goes to probate, it is publicly accessible at a cost of about €15 from the probate register of the Courts Service which you can find here.
When I say “in due course”, bear in mind that it can take up to a year for even a very straightforward estate to get through probate, not least because of pressure on resources in the Probate Office.
If there was no will, things are even more straightforward. The Succession Act lays down the order in which people can benefit from the estate of someone who dies intestate – i.e. with no will.
Top of the list is a spouse and/or children, if any. Next, in order, come grandchildren, parents, siblings, nephews and nieces, and, finally, any more distant relatives, such as cousins etc.
Regardless of who will benefit in those circumstances, the one certainty is that your friends will receive nothing from the estate. If this man really had no relatives at all, regardless of how remote, his estate goes to the State – including his savings and that painting.
If they do benefit, it is worth noting that anything they receive (outside the funeral expenses) will come under category C in terms of inheritance tax. That means, if he died on or after October 2nd last, they will be taxed at 33 per cent on anything they receive over €20,000 each. Before that, the threshold was €16,250.
And that €20,000 limit includes any previous inheritances and gifts greater than €3,000 in value that they may have received from anyone other than their parents or linearclose blood relations such as grandparents, siblings, uncles and aunts. It is not assessed solely against any benefit here.
It is great that your friends took it upon themselves to help out someone they thought was in need. To get those funeral expenses sorted, they will need to find out who is managing this man’s estate – relative or solicitor. For the rest, they will just have to wait and see but they certainly do not have any entitlement to any portion of his estate on the basis of their care for him.
Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to dominic.coyle@irishtimes.com with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
