probate
House Inheritance Question May Require Estate Attorney
When a homeowner dies and it’s unclear who inherits the home it may mean you need to hire an estate attorney. If you cannot afford to hire an estate attorney to help you sort out inheritance issues, you may seek assistance from a local legal aid clinic. It’s difficult to resolve a complex house inheritance situation without some outside help.
Home Sale Proceeds Go To Life Estate Owner
As you get older you may decide to put your assets in a life estate, in order to protect them and to make ends meet. When an asset that’s part of the life estate gets sold, the life estate owner receives the proceeds, but the sale is only valid while the life estate owner is alive. After the life estate owner’s death, the assets get transferred to the remaindermen (or beneficiaries) of the life estate.
Will Stipulates Inheritance Details For Home’s Contents
Are a home’s contents included in an inheritance? They’re separate from the building itself and to ensure that a home’s furnishings and other contents go to the heirs you want you should have a will. The will can stipulate who gets what and has what rights to the contents of a home after the owner dies. Working out these estate planning issues is especially important if you own a home with a non-spouse or friend.
Capital Gains Tax On Rental Property And Inheritance
When you sell a rental property you have to pay capital gains tax on the amount of profit you made on the property. The amount of mortgage loan you had on the property does not affect the capital gains tax. In addition, when you inherit property you inherit it at the market value it had on the day of the death of the person who bequested it to you. If you sell it right away you’ll pay minimal capital gains tax.
Avoid Probate With Transfer On Death (TOD) Deed
A Florida homeowner asks how to avoid probate for her estate. She wants to leave her condo to her son but does not want him to pay probate costs. Can she set up a transfer on death deed so that her son avoids probate? Probate laws vary by state and so she should consult an estate attorney to better understand Florida probate laws.
Finding The True Sales Price Of A Home
How do you find out if the tax assessor’s web site is correct in the sales price of her late mother’s home? A real estate agent in the area may be able to look up the home to find its sales price. The county recorder of deed’s office where the property was located should have a county record of the sold home as well.
Quit Claim Deed Validity Determines Inheritance Rights
If a quit claim deed is signed but never recorded and the former owner dies, who inherits the home? An Ohio family owns a West Virginia property through a quit claim deed but they never recorded the quit claim deed. The law of West Virginia, where the property is located, should determine whether the deed is valid. If the deed isn’t valid, then the inheritance laws where the property’s former owner lived should dictate who now owns the property.
Power Of Attorney Does Not Control All Assets
A woman tries to reclaim assets after her father’s death. Before dying he lived with his mother and gave her power of attorney to handle his affairs. The woman says her grandmother passed on a car and house when the father left them to her (his daughter). What can the woman do to get the car and the house back? What rights did the power of attorney give to the grandmother?
Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Without Name On Mortgage
A mother-in-law passed away and her son and his wife took over the mortgage payments including mortgage interest. Can they deduct mortgage interest on their taxes even though their names are not on the mortgage? Yes, because they will use the property as a primary residence. Consult the IRS web site for more information on mortgage interest tax deductions.
Estate Planning: No Will Means Following State Laws
When someone dies, who inherits the contents of the estate? Does it go to the person’s spouse or children, or both? It depends on the state where the deceased lives and whether that person had a will. To ensure that your estate planning wishes get executed make sure to have a valid will.
