Cohabitant Inheritance Rights and Tax in Ireland

The Contradiction at the Heart of Irish Law

Since July 2025, cohabiting partners in Ireland have near-parity with married couples for state bereavement benefits. A surviving cohabitant who lived with the deceased for at least five years (or two years with dependent children) can claim the Bereaved Partner's Contributory Pension — worth up to €259.50 weekly — and the €8,000 Bereaved Parent Grant.

But Revenue does not follow the same logic. For Capital Acquisitions Tax purposes, a cohabiting partner is classified as a "stranger in blood" under Group C, regardless of how long you lived together, whether you have children, or whether your name is on the mortgage. The Group C lifetime threshold is just €20,000, and everything above that is taxed at 33%.

This creates situations that most people find genuinely shocking when they encounter them for the first time.

What a €350,000 Inheritance Actually Costs

If one partner dies and leaves their share of a jointly owned home to the surviving cohabitant, the tax calculation is brutally simple:

• Home value (deceased's share): €350,000
• Group C threshold: €20,000
• Taxable amount: €330,000
• Tax at 33%: €108,900

The CAT return and payment are due by 31 October in the year following the valuation date.

By contrast, if the couple were married, the transfer would be completely exempt from CAT. No threshold, no tax, no filing requirement.

The Dwelling House Exemption: Your Main Defence

The most powerful protection for cohabiting partners is the Dwelling House Exemption under Section 86 of the CAT Consolidation Act. If the exemption applies, the entire value of the dwelling house is excluded from CAT — which for most cohabiting couples eliminates the tax bill entirely.

The qualifying conditions are strict:

1. The beneficiary must have lived in the dwelling as their principal private residence for three continuous years immediately before the date of the inheritance
2. The beneficiary must not have an interest in any other dwelling at the date of the inheritance
3. The beneficiary must continue to own and occupy the dwelling as their principal residence for six years after the inheritance (with limited exceptions for selling and reinvesting in another qualifying property)
4. The dwelling must have been the disponer's principal private residence at the date of the inheritance (with exceptions if the disponer was in long-term care)

Condition 2 is where many cohabitants fall down. If the surviving partner owns a buy-to-let apartment, a holiday home, or even a share in another property inherited from a parent, the exemption is lost — and the full Group C tax applies.

Other Protective Strategies

If the Dwelling House Exemption does not apply (or you want a backup):

Joint tenancy. Holding the property as joint tenants means the deceased's share passes automatically by survivorship — no probate delays. It does not avoid CAT on the value, but combining joint tenancy with the Dwelling House Exemption covers both the transfer mechanism and the tax.

Section 72 life insurance. A whole-of-life policy specifically designed to fund inheritance tax liabilities. The payout is exempt from CAT provided it is used entirely to pay the tax bill within one year. The catch: premiums increase with age, and the policy must be taken out before the policyholder turns 75. The minimum coverage ratio (8× annual premium) must be met for the exemption to apply.

Structured lifetime gifts. Using the annual Small Gift Exemption (€3,000 per recipient per year, exempt from CAT and not aggregated against any threshold) to gradually transfer assets during the couple's lifetime.

What Cohabitants Cannot Do

Cohabitants cannot claim the legal right share that spouses enjoy under the Succession Act 1965. If your partner dies without a will, you inherit nothing under the intestacy rules — the estate goes to children, parents, and siblings before you.

A cohabitant can apply to the court under Section 172 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 for provision from the estate, but this is a discretionary court application, not an automatic right. You must have lived together for five years (or two years with a dependent child), and the application must be made within six months of the extraction of the first Grant of Representation.

The bottom line: cohabiting couples need a will, proper property structuring, and ideally a Section 72 policy. Without these, the surviving partner faces both a tax crisis and a potential inheritance lockout.

The Ireland End-of-Life Planning Guide includes a dedicated cohabitant protection planning chapter, covering the Dwelling House Exemption checklist, Section 72 policy evaluation, and joint tenancy structuring.

See more Ireland guides →