Don't want to inherit house

[HouseD]

Not sure whether to post this in ethical matters, legal matters or money.

My parents have some land in their home country over 6000 miles away. I have only been to that country once and have no intention of living there, my life is here. My parents have decided to build a house on that land, which I am to inherit. For background, prior to building the house my parents asked whether this is something I would like and I made it very clear that this is not something I would want, but they decided that this is something I must have.

I am very concerned about the impact this might have on my family and me, and was hoping someone might be able to help me with the following questions.

1. If once I inherit the house I decide to buy a property here, will I need to pay the higher rate stamp duty?

1. Can my parents give the house to my son, without my consent?

1. My parents receive housing benefit, are they allowed to do so if they own a house elsewhere? If not, if I inherit the house will I get into trouble for their benefit fraud?

1. Can I reject the inheritance, and if so, what happens then? I am an only child.

The house and the land combined are probably worth around £20k. The house is in an area that people are leaving because of poor investment in the area by the government. It's practically deserted. The house itself, whilst new, is probably not desirable due to size and build quality, so I would have a hard time selling it. To sell I would need to be in the country in person.

I wonder if anyone can help, I can't find the answer on Google.

It looks like a sale may go through in January. I don't know how much for. The proceeds will be paid into an account in the country of the sale. My parents then want to transfer the money to the UK.

As this money will impact their benefits entitlement, they want to send it to my account and I can keep the money as a gift (I don't trust them on this, but let's assume it's true).

I feel very uncomfortable about this as I worry that I am in effect participating in their benefits fraud, but they have my bank details so I can't stop them. Given money laundering regulations or any other laws I'm not aware of, will I be required to declare the source of the money? Will I have to pay tax? Will they have to make any declarations?

My preference would have been that my parents transfer the money to their own UK account before sending on to me so that I don't get involved in any bureaucracy, but they don't want to given the benefits implications.

It sounds dodgy. Eg if they are really making a gift to you of the money from the sale then you may be required to disclose the source of the funds eg if you used that money to buy a property eventually in the UK (solicitors always have to ask where you got the money from).

Secondly some payments from some countries are on lists of dubious places or senders and can result in your bank account being frozen.

Thirdly if they give you the money they still had it albeit briefly or a right to it so you could get dragged into their benefits fraud.

Just say no thanks .I wonder if there is a way to tell your bank not to accept a payment? Tell your parents you will tell your bank not to accept the money if it comes to you and they need to use some other money mule for their illegal dealings.

OP please do not let them use your account. A transfer of a large lump sum amount from a foreign country could easily trigger a suspicious activity report and you could potentially find yourself having to explain all of this to both fraud authorities and HMRC.

So if I read it correctly your parents are claiming housing benefit yet own a house abroad.
Disgusting.

I would either close and open a new bank account, tell your bank not to accept the transfer, you dont want to get involved in their bank fraud.

You are condoning and assisting them in their benefit fraud if you hold onto the money for them.
Would they let you spend it?

If they can’t afford their rent so need housing benefit, they can’t afford to give you a genuine gift.

And they should use the money for their rent.

Thanks all. I have in the past I have closed accounts when they have sent me legitimate money that I did not want, but I can't keep closing accounts and they will find another way eg sending it to their grandchildren. The bank can't stop the payments so in the past I have sent money back to them. I am not planning on using the money, if I do end up getting it I plan to keep it ring fenced so I can return it to them (they have form for wanting gifts back) or the authorities.

Is there a way of finding out if their country is on the list of dubious places?

And does anyone know if either they or I have to declare the money source at transfer? For example when I opened an ISA the bank wanted to know where I got the money from. I would just feel better knowing it's been declared.

Just saw @NautaOcts posts after I posted.

I hope it's clear from my posts that I am not condoning any of this. I literally can't stop them sending me money and I am trying to understand whether the process of sending money will uncover what they are doing. It would give me peace of mind if it did, so that someone can look into it and either decide that what they are doing is fine or take the appropriate steps without me getting into trouble. I would have no problem telling the bank for example that the money comes from a house sale, if part of the transfer process involves me being asked this question, so I'm trying to find out what exactly is asked and by whom when money is transferred from abroad.

If they transfer the money to you then you transfer it straight back to them, you can contact your banks fraud dept for advice, if you know the name of their bank in the UK you can contact them too or the tax fraud department.

What country are they in

A will that falls in the fire and was the only copy, is worth nothing at all.

Your parents are committing benefit fraud because they failed to declare they own property. If this came to light perhaps it would be taken out of their estate when they die like other debts. But you wouldn't personally be liable. AFAIK.

Alert your bank to the possibility of a transfer which you havee refused permission for. Don't get involved in these shady dealings.

It must be really difficult if they’re not listening to you.

I can’t see any way that what they want to do would be considered ok, at least from a housing benefit perspective.

If they do end up getting money and transferring it to you against your will, one option would be to report them to housing benefit or Dwp and then have the money ready to give back to them to use for their living costs.
I know that would be difficult but would be the right thing to do.
If you reported it but the authorities didn’t act on it then at least your conscience would be clear.

If you have their email address could a solicitor write to them on your behalf stating that you and your son do not wish to inherit the house, visit the house, receive any finances from the sale of the property or have any monies transferred into your bank accounts now or in the future. Failure to adhere to these conditions will result in legal action. Well, something along those lines, you need a paper trail.

In the UK and Spain I know you can sign away your right to inherit. No one can make you inherit in any country I wouldn't have thought (although in Spain you can't choose what you inherit, it's all or nothing I believe), it doesn't matter if you are down as beneficiary in the will.
Under 18's can't inherit it would have to be put in trust or something and someone else would have to look after it. The child could still choose not to inherit it at 18 I assume. I don't think it will ever be your issue unless yo choose it to be. If it doesn't get signed over to you as an inheritance which you would need to be part of then it's nothing to do with you.

Thank you all. I'm still not clear what the process is for transferring money but I guess I will cross that bridge if it comes to it. Hopefully my parents will transfer it to their own UK bank account before making any gifts so that I don't have to get involved in any investigations.

I am not going to phone anyone to "grass them up" so to speak. I am really disappointed in them but I don't want to see them in prison either.

The longer they carry on with this deception the more likely it is they will be prosecuted.

To be honest I would have thought that as long as the property/money is over there, there’s pretty much zero chance of there being an issue.

My suggestion of letting HB know was really if they bring over the proceeds and implicate/involve you.

Presumably they have declared this property when applying for benefits. If not why not. They would be committing a criminal offence if they have lied.

I haven't forgotten about this thread. I have been thinking about this every day and arguing with my parents who have some illogical and irrational reasons as to why what they are doing is ok. I can't argue against their reasons. We have told them we don't want the money and they have said they will send it anyway.

It's really quite upsetting because from what we understand, if they hadn't had started this crazy scheme, the money they had would have been legitimate. But no, they had to go and build a house and get my aunt to hand over her money to put in the house in their name, which aunt had planned to give us the money directly anyway.

Refuse to give them the information they need to do a international bank transfer

Where is it? West Bank? Afghanistan? Yemen? Ethiopia? Myanmar? Syria? Congo?

I sympathise enormously with you!
The default position is that the majority of parents, if they are in a position to do so (and want to), give unconditionally. A handful of parents use their children for tax avoidance, fraudulent activities etc. It's despicable and causes untold grief and complications in their adult children's lives.
Quite simply, you are being used.
Hopefully your bank can stop the transfer (I really don't know).
I would tell your parents that a) you will be instructing your bank to reject the money and thus potentially opening up a can of worms for them, not you! And b) I would tell them that if there are no measures in place for the bank to do this, upon receipt of said money, you will immediately be transferring it back to them.
I'm sorry OP that you are suffering such anxiety because of them. This is unacceptable behaviour from a parent - to use and abuse their child in this way.
Please be factual and firm with them. No long discussions or explanations. Broken record technique!