Father Thinking of Rejecting Inheritance - Questions and Clarifications

[Alan N]

I am my mother's executor of will. She lived in QLD and died there recently. The will states, "I give the whole of my estate to ... (my husband), but if this gift fails then, the following distribution shall apply instead.

"I give the whole of my estate to ...(all of her children equally)."

My father is on a pension. My father is thinking of rejecting the gift of a property that my mother owned, as it will affect his pension (unless he lives in it) and also affect the payments he would be required to make if/when he goes into a nursing home. Moving into the property may also be an issue re easy access to health facilities - he is in his late 80's.

My questions:
1. Does my father have to reject the whole of the inheritance (includes money} or can he just reject the property and it's contents?
2. Would Centrelink regard rejecting the property as gifting assets to others, above the allowable amounts in order to keep his assets low - max 10000 per year and max 30000 over 5 years, I think it is? Or would it not be relevant as the property and contents were never his due to the rejection?
3. If he does reject the property, then it would pass to me and my brothers and sisters equally. Is this correct?

Thanks for your assistance

 

[Sophea]

Hi,

It is possible to disclaim all or part of an inheritance however, if a beneficiary who is a pensioner disclaims their entitlement to an inheritance centrelink may deem them to have deprived themselves of the assets they were to inherit, triggering the same deeming rules that apply to gifting - i.e where you gift more than $10,000 per year or $30,000 over a five year continuous period. Centrelink will deem pensioner to receive income from the excess amount over the next five years and reduce benefits accordingly.

But yes, if your father disclaimed all or part of his inheritance the disclaimed part would go back into the estate residual to be divided between you and your siblings.