A friend who emigrated to Canada died last year and left us $50,000 dollars in his will, the equivalent of about £25,000. His solicitor tells us it will probably be 12 months before we receive the money: will we have to pay capital gains tax on our windfall, or tax on unearned income?
As long as the terms of the will gave the money to you free of Canadian inheritance tax or its equivalent and the solicitor should have told you if it didn’t you shouldn’t have any tax to pay on receipt of your legacy. The interest it earns when you finally put the money in your bank account will obviously be taxable: but that’s quite a nice problem to have!