Hi
@Fyffes
It sounds like there is a lot of upheaval in your life, on top of three youngish dependents, so well done managing it.
Some pointers for you:
Where to put your money - Background
Given the sums involved you need to be aware of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme. This guarantees that if the bank/institution holding your money gets into trouble, you will get your money back. It is limited to €100,000 per person per bank/institution. There may not appear to be much chance of one of the main Irish Banks (BOI, AIB, PTSB) going bust, but the majority of folk here tend to be cautious and I think its fair to say that the general advice would be to stay under that limit. There is a 6 month temporary high balance cover of €1m allowed for certain events (e.g. domestic property sales etc, more details here) so it covers the money landing in your account for a short period.
The main banks have three offerings:
Current account - no interest paid, money usually available on demand. Also current accounts (along with linked debit cards) are somewhat vulnerable to scammers etc so they aren't great places to keep large amounts of money for any length of time.
Demand Deposit Account - some interest paid (very low at present in Ireland)
Term Deposit Account - Better interest but your money is tied up for a period. Terms of 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 months are currently available and some of the interest rates are quite decent. (Some, but not all term deposit accounts allow you to take your money out early, but you generally forgo the interest if you do this)
You will find details of the Demand Deposit Accounts
here per the link that
@Lightening left. And details of the Term Deposit Accounts are
here
Another Possibility:
Another option is Prize Bonds from State Savings. These are state guaranteed for up to €250,000 for a sole holder. You must hold them for 3 months minimum, and after that they can be cashed in at any time, a process that usually takes no more than 7-10 days. They don't pay regular interest, but you are in with a chance to win something in the weekly draw.
Timeline
The other thing you need to think about is whether you are prepared to tie the money up for a term. Be realistic in making this decision - will you wait until you receive the insurance payment and the proceeds of the will to buy the house, or buy before that ? If the answer is the former, are you likely to buy and close the contract in 6 months ? 12 months ? 18 months ?
What to Do
So, bearing all that in mind, I'd suggest moving the €267k to an account in your name as soon as opossible, to get it working for you and to avoid any complications should something happen to your solicitor. Then, pretty much immediately, move it to one or more deposit accounts, demand or term depending on your timeline (e.g. €100k each in AIB, PTSB, BOI) or more if prize bonds. If you opt for term deposits or prize bonds, it might be an idea to keep some in a demand deposit account to cover any booking or contract deposit if an opportunity arises quickly.
You will almost certainly get higher interest rates from some of the online deposit takers, Bunq, Raisin, etc, if you are comfortable with that option.
Hope that this makes sense. Feel free to post any follow-up questions you may have .