Two Irish men recently got married in Dublin, but the story of this same-sex marriage is quite unlike the rest. The couple is in love with each other but just as friends. In fact, both of them are heterosexual and their idea to get married was only to avoid paying €50,000 in inheritance tax on a house.
Best friends Matt Murphy and Michael O'Sullivan decided to get married when they discovered the amount of tax would have to be paid on the house Murphy, 83, intended to leave in his will to O'Sullivan, 58, who is his carer, The Guardian reported.
"I've known Matty for 30 years. We became very friendly after my second relationship broke up," O'Sullivan, a father of three, told the Irish Mirror.
He added: "I have been bringing Matt out in my car to various parties and all that kind of thing. He became friends with all my friends, they all loved him."
O'Sullivan later became Murphy's carer but Murphy could not afford to pay O'Sullivan as a carer so eventually, he decided that the only way to pay him back is to leave the house for him. So that after Murphy passes away, O'Sullivan has a place to stay.
Best friends Michael O'Sullivan and Matt Murphy ahead of civil marriage in order to avoid inheritance tax. More @IrishMirror pic.twitter.com/skGJLeqoxN
— Emma McMenamy (@emmamcm) December 22, 2017
However, O'Sullivan knew that it would mean a huge tax bill and the house would have to be sold to pay it.
He said Murphy, "was chatting with a friend down the country in Cashel, Co Tipperary, and she jokingly said we should get married."
He added: "Then one night he turned around and said it to me and I said I would marry him."
They got married in a former hospital on Dublin's Grand Canal Street, which was followed by a meal for five at the nearby Gasworks bar.
