A straight man who married his best friend to avoid paying €50,000 in inheritance tax said he would do it all over again as he paid tribute to his partner.
Michael O’Sullivan lost his husband Matt Murphy earlier this week when he passed away in hospital following a short illness.
Just days earlier Michael, who tied the knot with 84-year-old Matt in Dublin two years ago, told the Irish Sunday Mirror of their happiness.
Michael said he would marry
Matt again in a heartbeat despite becoming his full-time carer after he developed dementia.
He said: “I knew what I was getting into. Don’t get me wrong when he’s been sick recently it has been tough but I would do it all again.
“Up until he went into hospital everything had been grand. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary on December 22.”
Michael, 59, said he had no regrets about becoming Matt’s carer and would encourage others to follow suit.
He said the set up would be ideal for farmers who want to leave their land to friends without inheritance tax debt.
Dad-of-three Michael said: “Hopefully what we have done has inspired other people. There are a lot of farmers down the country who don’t get married but who might have a young lad, a cousin or whoever, coming to help them on the farm and they want to leave it to them.
“But if they do leave them the farm they leave them with a debt of a third of the value of it.
“They don’t want to sell it, they want to leave it to someone they know.
“If they leave it to a young lad they will have to sell it or they will be landed with a debt. They will have to sell the farm to pay the bloody debt.”
He went on: “Marriage was originally a contract, it wasn’t a love thing.
“It had nothing to do with love, that came later on.”
Matt passed away on Tuesday and Michael posted a touching tribute on Facebook to his friend of 30 years.
He said: “My dapper and lovely husband and friend, Mattie, died peacefully this morning at 4.17am.”
The Tipperary native’s funeral took place on Friday at St John’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, in Cashel.
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