Inheritance to oz
 

I have been here in WA for about 4 years.

I have received some early inheritance (enough to pay the mortgage) from a family member in the UK.

What is the safest way to transfer this - and what are the legal implications here.

I have transfered a few thousand here and there and I don`t really want to say how much this is but does the legalities change

Thanks in advance!!

Parsnips

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

Sorry to hear of your loss - but nice they thought of you.

Our parents left a small sum to us and it is easily transferable.
No difference in legalities whatever the sum.

I'm not going to ask amounts but the solicitor should sort out Probate and any Inheritance Tax (if applicable) in the UK before you receive the sum.
There should be no further tax implications here in Oz.

Transferring here is easy using one of the Currency transfer / exchange company's.They do make it very easy and most have similar rates.

We use a company called Custom House. They have an office here in Adelaide so it feels a little safer in that you can actually pop in and see them.

http://www.customhouse.com.au/

Hope this helps :D

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

Thankyou - really I should have explained a bit better - you see, no one has died. :)

So I suppose really it is just a gift off a parent - my mother was quite a shrewed investor back in the 80s and accumulated quite a number of houses.

We plan to sell one to finance our bush lifestyle here (and keep her for probably a month a year as she grows old)

I hope I am explaining myself - so really its just a transfer? Or would it be foreign investment?

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

Ah- sorry.

This looks like it could be a gift rather than inheritance.
I'd seriously seek advice from an accountant now,I know that monetary gifts up to a certain (unknown to me) limit are tax free but you may have tax implications.

Good for Mum investing!!!:D

We did the same and our last property is to be sold in the UK soon.No tax paid in the UK as we have been Aussie residents for over 5 years...........BUT we have to pay Capital Gains here on the increase from the date we entered Oz.
Can't avoid it I'm afraid but we can put the CGT against some Capital Losses from our early years here.The losses just roll over until you can offset against them.

Please see an accountant though - I'm only talking from experience - not training.

Good luck:thumbup:

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

I recently received an inheritence from the USA. I sent the appropriate numbers and bank address to the solicitor and the money was sent via electronic transfer into my account. This is by far the cheapest and safest way to do it. It cost me around $5, where doing it a different way costs bank fees, exchange fees per thousand etc.

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

It sounds like a gift.

Not up to date on this but when I was there, UK law allowed tax free gifts up to 6k a year (12k in first year as you could bring 1 year forward). This was per person so she could gift 12k to you and 12k to your spouse in year 1. Also she could gift as much as she likes tax free as long as she survives 7 years after the gift has been made.

Aus has no gift tax.

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

Also if she gifts over her allowance and she dies before the 7 years are up, then it can screw with the inheritance tax exemptions and allowances, in some cases drastically reducing them.


S

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

Are you saying that it'll be worse than if she'd left it all for inheritance?

I didn't think that was the case (but I accept that things may have changed since I've left).

There used to be a sliding scale and tax office would reinclude the depreciated amount into the inheritance. So not as good as getting it tax free but no worse than if the original money was included in the inheritance.

Re: Inheritance to oz
 

Ok thanks for the replys -

What about if she bought the house (and we live in it)

That would be a Foreign investment no?