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Your current state is Virginia
My mother inherited our grandmother's house and wants to gift the home for half the value of the home. Is she able to do this without incurring some sort of large tax burden the following year?

answered on Feb 11, 2025
Generally, it is better to inherit a home via estate planning and or a proper deed (enhanced life estate deed, ladybird deed) as you will get a stepped-up basis for the value of the home at or near the date of death. If the asset is gifted then a gift tax form will need to be completed and sent to... View More
My mother inherited our grandmother's house and wants to gift the home for half the value of the home. Is she able to do this without incurring some sort of large tax burden the following year?

answered on Feb 11, 2025
An Enhanced Life Estate Deed (Lady Bird Deed) or a Revocable Trust can help your mother transfer the home efficiently while avoiding probate and minimizing tax consequences.
Lady Bird Deed
This allows your mother to:
Retain full control of the home during her lifetime.... View More

answered on Feb 11, 2025
Mr. Sternberg is correct - you have three choices: 1) own it in your own name; 2) own it in your Wyoming LLC AND register that LLC in Virginia (for about the same cost as forming one) or 3) form a Virginia LLC and own it with that.
Some gratuitous advice: many years ago a real estate... View More

answered on Feb 10, 2025
If you open a foreign LLC to do business in Virginia by owning and renting property in the state, you will need to register the foreign corporation or LLC in Virginia. You will not be exempt from Virginia sales or other taxes on the Virginia income. So, you will pay corporate franchise tax in both... View More

answered on Feb 11, 2025
If you don't already have an LLC to work with and you are only interested in buying and renting or flipping property in Virginia, a Virginia limited liability company should be all that you need to protect yourself. If you formed an LLC in another state for whatever reason, you would still... View More
My husband and I have lived with my mother for 15 years. we pay all iof the household bills. The house is in a trust in my and my sister's name. When my mom dies, we both want to sell the house. While my husband and I look for a place to live, we plan on living in the house and paying all of... View More

answered on Feb 10, 2025
You didn't say if your half of the home is in your trust and the other half in your sister's trust (which is the most common way to do it if you already own the property) or if the property is in your parent's trust but your sister and you are named as beneficiaries of the property... View More
I am a non-US citizen. I own a condo in NYC which is not my primary residence. I want to transfer this condo into my revocable living trust (domestic). My attorney filled out form TP584 as a conveyance without consideration. Therefore, no transfer tax is due. At the end of this form, it states that... View More

answered on Feb 7, 2025
A revocable trust's assets are still your tax responsiblity, e.g. property taxes, because it is revocable. The form you are filing suggests you are getting income from the property and that is taxable. If you have no confidence in your atorney, you should obtain another one. Do so or take... View More

answered on Feb 7, 2025
I would encourage you to have the current deed reviewed, based on how the deed is held it may transfer upon death (review needed). In addition, I would encourage you to consider having a proper estate planning done with respect to a Will and or other documents as well as a Deed with survivorship... View More

answered on Feb 7, 2025
If you and your mother bought a house together and both names are on the mortgage, what happens to the property when one of you passes away depends on how the title (ownership) was set up. Since there is no will, the way the property is titled will determine the next steps:
Joint Tenancy... View More
And receiving a one time insurance settlement? It seems illogical to set up a permanent conservatorship for 18 months worth of time.

answered on Feb 7, 2025
Generally speaking, in Arizona, a temporary conservatorship or a trust can be set up instead of a permanent conservatorship for a minor receiving a one-time insurance settlement. Since the minor is 16 ½, a permanent conservatorship for just 18 months may be unnecessary.
Alternative... View More
Not filed probate yet, not will, surviving spouse with dementia in a nursing home. I am still organizing our mother's affairs. I have a key and have always been free to come and go freely. But since our mother's death, my sister is telling me to stay away. She's trying to steal our mother's home.

answered on Feb 6, 2025
you should file for probate immediately. If and when you are appointed the personal representative of your mother's estate, you will have the right to enter the house. Until then, any permission (or even a written power of attorney) given to you by your mother died with her.
In Texas, if one of a few heirs/next of kin, was sole caretaker/power of attorney/POD on one’s bank account/only person to care for person who now has passed, and there’s several credible witnesses, is there a way to fight the normal entitled heirship owed to other heirs? All that’s involved... View More

answered on Feb 6, 2025
It depends on the quality and character of the evidence. Ordinarily, an agent under a POA can sign a deed on behalf of the principal, but it is highly suspicious if the agent himself is the grantee under the deed.
You would need credible evidence that the grantor-principal was absolutely... View More
it would be from 1996 or 97

answered on Feb 4, 2025
There is no way to know if you were entitled to an inheritance if your relative had a trust because trusts are not filed anywhere unless there is a claim brought, in which case there would be a Petition (think, "lawsuit") filed with the local Probate Court. Wills, however, are supposed to... View More
Do both co-owners of a house have to sign the form for a homestead declaration in California?

answered on Feb 3, 2025
Both co-owners do not necessarily have to sign the homestead declaration.
If the co-owner is a spouse, only one spouse needs to sign.
If the co-owner is unrelated, you can protect your interest in the home as long as it is your primary residence.
In this case, you will... View More

answered on Feb 3, 2025
Commission must be approved by the court (or consented to by all heirs) before being paid out but Maryland law sets reasonable compensation as 3.6% of the probate assets over $20,000 (a different percentage applies to the first $20k).
Note that a commission is viewed as income for work... View More

answered on Feb 3, 2025
Compensation for either a Personal Representative (a/k/a “executor”) and a “Special Administrator” of an estate is capped by statute, but the amount actually approved by the court is based on a “reasonable” standard. The only time there is a special administrator is when there is no... View More
The mortgage is over a hundred thousand dollars, I am not on the mortgage and I don’t qualify for a loan and neither does any of my family members, is there any hope of saving the house or must it be sold?

answered on Feb 2, 2025
As long as you keep making the payments on time the lender cannot foreclose or call the loan due. You also are not obligated to assume the loan. This is federal law that applies if you are a family member of the deceased. If you were not related to the deceased then you might consider selling the... View More
The mortgage is over a hundred thousand dollars, I am not on the mortgage and I don’t qualify for a loan and neither does any of my family members, is there any hope of saving the house or must it be sold?

answered on Feb 2, 2025
More information is needed to properly answer your question. One thing to note is that all debts and taxes must be paid before real estate may be distributed to the beneficiary (assuming the real estate was solely in the deceased person’s name.) So, if someone passed away and left only $10,000 in... View More
We would like to gift 2.5 acres (undeveloped) of our 5 acre lot (which has our home and a large shop on it) to our son and his wife. Right now we are zoned RR-5; we know we will have to go to the county (it is on county land) to try to rezone. We wonder how gifting 1/2 the property might impact our... View More

answered on Feb 1, 2025
Most mortgages/deeds of trust have a due on sale clause, so you cannot deed it to anyone without the lender's consent. His tax basis is the same as yours if you deed it now while your living, but he gets a stepped up basis at your death as an heir. Hire a CO attorney to advise.
Our deceased parents (died in 2015) California house is still in that trust and qualifies for Proposition 13 taxes rates. What happens to the property tax rates if we rent out the house, still owned by the trust?

answered on Jan 31, 2025
Everyone who buys real estate in qualifies for Proposition 13. There have been attacks on Prop. 13 ever since it was passed including a false claim that Prop. 13 only applies to people who bought homes in the 1970’s. That is NOT accurate. Everyone who buys real estate in California qualifies.... View More
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