Bequeath estate to grandchildren, rather than children?

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Hammer

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Widower in my 80's.
Estate; house worth about 450k & 50k cash.

5 adult children.
13 grandchildren (mostly teens).

What would be the pros/cons of bequeathing estate to all the grandchildren equally? (I'm aware of the 33k threshold).
(Adult children are mostly financially stable, and are happy with whatever decision I make).

Many thanks
Hammer
 
How do they divide the inheritance? Some may want to sell, others not and just maybe one or two may want to move into the house. That's only one problem.
 
There’ll be tax leakage as €33,500 x 13 is less than €500k, plus values may increase further over time, as hopefully there’s plenty of life left in the old dog yet!

Most grandparents would look at each family unit equally in my experience, i.e. you have five children, so if one has 2 kids they might each get €50k and a grandchild who’s one of four in that family unit might get €25k if that makes sense.

They’re possibly a bit young to get a decent amount of cash as well.

You mention that your own kids are “mostly” financially stable. It doesn’t have to be “all duck or no dinner”. Why not leave 20% to the kids that mightn’t be doing as well, and a share of their family’s €100k to the grandchildren whose parents are doing well?
 
The pros are that each grandkid can end up with €33-€35K which if you live another 10-20 years will probably help them fund their education, business, deposit for house or buy a car or whatever. They will probably enjoy a cash injection more than their financially stable parents.

I can’t see too many cons, the kids might be secretly peeved but it’s yours to sell, help fund your old age etc. You may need to use the value of your house yourself to fund the fair deal if needed, so don’t worry about trying to preserve a certain level of wealth for the relations.

The only thing is to have a very clear will laying out that you want your house sold, all debts paid and value of your estate divided equally between them. Your solicitor should advise.
 
Don't forget your house contents. Furniture, paintings, silver, jewellery etc. I'd suggest making a list and putting names beside them or, as my mother did, leave the contents to one person and give them instructions as to what to do with everything
 
Gordon Gekko said:
There’ll be tax leakage as €33,500 x 13 is less than €500k, plus values may increase further over time, as hopefully there’s plenty of life left in the old dog yet!
...
You mention that your own kids are “mostly” financially stable. It doesn’t have to be “all duck or no dinner”. Why not leave 20% to the kids that mightn’t be doing as well, and a share of their family’s €100k to the grandchildren whose parents are doing well?
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To expand on that, a strategy to avoid tax would be to give each grandchild the max tax free amount.
And then equally divide what's left between the adult children.

There's a fair chance the adults may use the extra money in ways which directly or indirectly help the kids e.g. paying for weddings, college, holidays, cars etc
 
Smaug~~°w°~~ said:
Don't forget your house contents. Furniture, paintings, silver, jewellery etc. I'd suggest making a list and putting names beside them or, as my mother did, leave the contents to one person and give them instructions as to what to do with everything
Click to expand...

Most people wouldn’t do that. The more typical approach is for contents and “bits and pieces” to be distributed in line with the deceased’s wishes but “under the radar”.
 
Gordon Gekko said:
Most people wouldn’t do that. The more typical approach is for contents and “bits and pieces” to be distributed in line with the deceased’s wishes but “under the radar”.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm not suggesting a list for a will and probate but just for the family. Whoever gets the house generally gets what's in it unless otherwise stated. So if one or multiple people get the house it might be prudent to state that the contents should be distributed as per ones wishes - hence the list. As I mentioned, my mother left all the contents to one person and that person had instructions as to what to do with most of it - none of it was listed for probate so all "under the radar".
 
Hammer said:
What would be the pros/cons of bequeathing estate to all the grandchildren equally? (I'm aware of the 33k threshold).
(Adult children are mostly financially stable, and are happy with whatever decision I make).

Many thanks
Hammer
Click to expand...

I think you're a hero!

This kind of five-figure sum will make a massive difference to kids when they are young. Education, travel, getting a property, having a good time. Now that I'm comfortable financially wish I could go back and make a donation to my 20-year-old self. If I can I will frontload some of my own kids' inheritance if I can.

It might be wise to explicitly write your kids into the will so that there is no question of you having failed to provide for them. Something like 5% of your estate to each child, and then the residual 75% split equally between all grandchildren. At a €500k valuation of your estate they would all be under the €33k threshold which would save them all the hassle of filing a small CAT return too.
 
Many thanks to all who have replied - really appreciate the responses.
There is considerable & genuine love for the family home (it’s kinda unique), and I’m not sure that selling and splitting as described is the best option after all. I’m now thinking the following:

Bequeath house to Child1
He and his family I think would actually like to come and live with me in preference to their current residence. Let us suppose they would sell their PPR immediately (their only property).

He could then gift c €3400 to my other children & spouses, plus each of my grandchildren, so may €50k of gifting immediately. Repeat sequence of gifting in 2nd & maybe the 3rd years (strong element of trust between children understood).

I understand if Child1 has no other property, and lives with me for 3. years, then there may be no CAT implications for him when I die.

However assuming I don’t last long enough, I’m thinking of leaving €335k worth of the house to Child1, plus €32.5k worth of the house to his 3 barely adult still living at home kids. (residue of estate to my other children). Presume this is doable, though not sure how you’d phrase it in the will.

Your observations most valued.
Hammer
 
Whatever you do, try and avoid a family squabble after you are gone. I have one sibling, she has two children, I have three. My sibling apparently wanted my parents estate split 50:50 between the two families but my parents were determined each grandchild would get the same inheritance. That being said, they missed a trick and did not leave anything to the children's spouses, which would have saved some CAT (it was a significant inheritance) - they had their own reasons for that but a shame nonetheless
 
homer911 said:
Whatever you do, try and avoid a family squabble after you are gone. I have one sibling, she has two children, I have three. My sibling apparently wanted my parents estate split 50:50 between the two families but my parents were determined each grandchild would get the same inheritance. That being said, they missed a trick and did not leave anything to the children's spouses, which would have saved some CAT (it was a significant inheritance) - they had their own reasons for that but a shame nonetheless
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Equal between the two families would be the more common approach and the fairer one in my view.
 
A letter of wishes is useful for the sentimental, low value items.

Be careful of going overboard though; a recent estate for which I was exec had 10 pages in the letter of wishes.

It took me six months to get everything distributed; and even then I had a hard time identifying the "green widget with a yellow circle" & the person concerned might have received a "blue widget with a pink circle".

But it was a widget & I did my best!
 
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