St Louis, MO asked in Real Estate Law and Family Law for Illinois

Q: Can my brother-in-law’s aunts and uncles take away his home and property?

My brother-in-law bought a house from his grandma 4 years ago to avoid inheritance fees. Since then he has put $40k into the house and paid the property taxes. We have also bought the house/property to avoid losing it in his divorce (so it is in our name). He is not currently living there as there is still more work to be done before it becomes livable. Medicare is penalizing his 97 year old grandma 17 months for not selling the house for what it’s worth and the nursing home is charging her $5,800/month to live there. Her daughters and their husbands are now trying to take the house from him/us to sell to someone else so that she could stay at the nursing home. They have even gone as far as to trespass onto the property to show someone who is interested.

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Your grandma is still alive or there would be no inheritance fees. A lawyer should have been consulted. There is a 5 year look back period. If she goes into a nursing home within 5 years of selling or giving away property for less than fair market value she is penalized and yes, they can have a court reverse the sale.

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