Inheritance Tax - If expat dies abroad

[Charlottesquare]

I must say that owning a burial plot could hardly give a clearer indication of where one wants to be buried. Were I intent on disproving domicile I would get rid of a burial lot in the old country irrespective of what the HMRC Manuals say or do not say. It is not something many of us go around collecting.

Dod

I have the deeds for two but not sure I really own them , I have never actually located them, they are in Wellshill Cemetery, Perth, and I suspect are occupied by my great grandparents.

My wife's family has two plots left at Mount Vernon, Edinburgh ,where their family are all buried, the siblings (my wife and her brother) graciously acknowledge their mother can have one of them but fight between themselves over which of them is getting the last one.

I am just going to be difficult, I will stick in a codicil to my will something like half my ashes to be scattered at GPS position X in the middle on some vast loch with no outboard to be used and the other half scattered from the the summit of some difficult to climb Scottish mountain-effectively make the kids work for their inheritance.

[Dod101]

I must say that owning a burial plot could hardly give a clearer indication of where one wants to be buried. Were I intent on disproving domicile I would get rid of a burial lot in the old country irrespective of what the HMRC Manuals say or do not say. It is not something many of us go around collecting.

Dod

I have the deeds for two but not sure I really own them , I have never actually located them, they are in Wellshill Cemetery, Perth, and I suspect are occupied by my great grandparents.

My wife's family has two plots left at Mount Vernon, Edinburgh ,where their family are all buried, the siblings (my wife and her brother) graciously acknowledge their mother can have one of them but fight between themselves over which of them is getting the last one.

I am just going to be difficult, I will stick in a codicil to my will something like half my ashes to be scattered at GPS position X in the middle on some vast loch with no outboard to be used and the other half scattered from the the summit of some difficult to climb Scottish mountain-effectively make the kids work for their inheritance.

Sounds good. My ashes are to be scattered in a very attractive and fast flowing river. My late wife wanted to be buried so was but I cannot say I like it very much from any angle, not least the amount of ground taken up by a graveyard.

Dod

[scrumpyjack]

I think you'll be past caring what happens at that point

[Dod101]

I think you'll be past caring what happens at that point

Maybe so. You never know.

Dod

[taken2often]

I do not think a burial plot would make any difference. As far as I can see and any estate that I have been involved in the need for Probate or Confirmation to do something is the trigger. If you do not need this then you do not exist. You keep your money abroad. A sum comes in each month to pay for your needs. You have a prepaid funeral, you tell your offshore executor to ignore any risidual funds in the bank. The Registration of Death could advise the DWP to stop your Pension if you have one. Advise landlord and Council of death, clean out propery. You have not paid any tax in the UK for years, so you no longer exist.

The simple life

Bob

[Lootman]

I do not think a burial plot would make any difference. As far as I can see and any estate that I have been involved in the need for Probate or Confirmation to do something is the trigger. If you do not need this then you do not exist. You keep your money abroad. A sum comes in each month to pay for your needs. You have a prepaid funeral, you tell your offshore executor to ignore any residual funds in the bank. The Registration of Death could advise the DWP to stop your Pension if you have one. Advise landlord and Council of death, clean out property. You have not paid any tax in the UK for years, so you no longer exist.

The simple life

In a sense the question of when and whether an IHT liability arises in practice is always a matter of something triggering it. That applies to people living in the UK as well as people who long since emigrated. It is just that for an expat there are fewer such triggers. Examples of triggers are:

1) Death being registered, state or other UK pension being terminated, or other official notification.
2) Probate being initiated
3) A third party volunteering the information (next of kin, executor, embassy, obituary etc.)
4) Sale of UK assets
5) The absence of something e.g. no tax return submitted for the last year.

It is easy to see how each of those is less likely for an expat. They are also less likely if someone has that "simple life" e.g. all assets owned as joint tenants with a spouse or other, all assets gifted before death, all assets held in bearer or physical form etc. The combination of both of those factors makes it much less likely that any IHT will ever be collected regardless of any theoretical liability.