You will have a taxable gain based on the sales proceeds less your basis in the property. If the property was subject to depreciation, then you would have "recapture" income. This recapture income would be taxed as ordinary income and not as capital gain income. Any amount of gain in... View More

It is hard to tell what is really going on here. If you are living in a house that is owned by the trust, then you could face eviction if the trust does not allow you to live there and the trustee believes it is in the best interest of all concerned to sell the house. If you a beneficiary of the... View More

You need to immediately retain an estate litigation attorney to bring an action for his immediate removal for breach of his fiduciary duty as executor and for him to make a complete accounting. A surcharge action needs to brought against him for losses that the estate has incurred by him stealing... View More

You did not ask a question more important than local real estate taxes. The real question here is what is your basis in the house when you receive it. If the house is in trust and it was a revocable trust, then at your dad's death, his part of the real estate would get a step up in basis to... View More

Sadly, if the document is not signed it has no legal impact on the estate. If she died with a prior will and trust then that would be controlling. If there is no will or trust signed, dated, witnessed and notarized, then she died intestate. The rules of intestate succession in the state where... View More

If they are suffering from dementia it probably indicates lack of testamentary capacity. However, if that person has periods of lucidity that indicates the ability to do estate planning, then the document may be valid. You need to get with an estates attorney in the area where the person in... View More

If I understand you correctly, your step mom did not probate the will because everything was held jointly. If this is the case then all assets are now hers by operation of law. You and your children have no right to any of those assets. She is free to dispose of them in any way she chooses. She... View More

This may not be a good idea. If you obtain the real estate by gift you do not get a step up in basis to the date of death value of the real estate. As a result, the best course of action would be for your grandmother to transfer the property to you via her will. This is a very common mistake... View More

If you have not had any luck with the insurance company, your next step is to hire an estate attorney to talk to their legal department. If that does not help, then the insurance company will file most likely file an "interpleader" and turn the proceeds over to the court, to have them... View More

If you do not have a statute of limitations problem since this case goes back to 2017, you must immediately retain an estate litigation attorney. A general legal Q&A forum like this one cannot give you the help you need.

If you suspect foul play then you need to immediately retain an estate litigation attorney to discuss all details of this case. The other thing you should do is check with the attorney that wrote the old will to see if he updated it. If that yields nothing, then see if you can determine who his... View More

If you have copies of your tax returns for those years, I would call the social security administration to see if they could update their records accordingly. If they cannot do it, then this gets to be a harder task. You could contact the IRS (good luck with that these days with their limited... View More

Either a codicil or a newly drafted will can accomplish your goals. A new will is always cleaner and it is only one document. If you have a will and a codicil, then both are submitted to probate.

One side bar issue: You say you already gifted 50 acres to your daughter. You should be... View More

Generally, revocable trusts become irrevocable at the moment of the death of the grantor/settlor of this trust. However, if there is something in the trust that allows for modifications but maybe not an amendment, a close reading by a trained estate attorney would be prudent here. Perhaps you are... View More

Usually in these cases, the recipient organization will provide a qualified appraiser. It would be surprising if they will not do this. This would save the costs to have these items appraised.

As to the 30%, yes that is the limit for capital gain type of property donated. There is an... View More

Attorney Oakley cover the gift tax implications expertly. However, if you do a disclaimer, it is as if you died and the assets goes to your children and not to a non-related party. Your disclaimer may not work here as you plan.

Additionally, if A and B are not related, you may be entering... View More

If you own the property the rental income is your income. If you decide to pay this income to your dad that is a gift to him. You must pay report the rental income on your tax return. You will also lose the step up in basis tax advantage if you transfer this property from dad to you while he is... View More

The pension would now be now part of your mother's estate if she survived your step-father. If there is a will then the will would control who gets the pension monies. If not, then the laws of intestacy of the state where your mom died would control. You could have the estate probated and... View More

Transferring assets during lifetime can result in some adverse tax results. When a person dies they get a step up in basis the date of death. What that means is that when the estate or beneficiary who receives the asset dies they minimize the capital gain tax they would normally have to pay. But... View More

As part of the settlement procedure, you should purchase title insurance. The title company as part of its due diligence will have a debts, taxes due and tax liens, mortgages and encumbrances, etc. removed at the time of settlement to insure good title to the buyer. This is done by the title... View More