Current Events > Anyone have advice/experience regarding inheriting a house?

(+) Yeah! (+)

My dad passed yesterday. I was promised his house; he had a living will so now the trustee/executor or whatever has possession of everything. Im fairly certain he will do his duty of transferring the property to me. I live out of state though.
Not really asking any specific questions here I guess, just curious on experiences of others who had similar situations, or insights due to careers.

(PS, TIA for any condolences, I promise I am fine and dont need grieving advice or anything to do with the loss itself, just the inheritance situation)

Do you have a copy of the current will?

First off, my condolences.

Second, the executor of the will should take care of most of the paperwork, save for whatever you need to sign in order to transfer ownership.

After that, it really depends on what you plan on doing with the property once you gain ownership, if there's still a mortgage, if you plan on selling it, etc.

When my parents passed back in 2020, me an my sister gained dual ownership of their house. The executor of their will, who also happened to be my uncle, worked with my parents lawyer to get all the paperwork together to transfer the deed to myself and my sister. We then sold the house.

You won't get taxed just for inheriting the property, but if you sell, you'll get banged with capital gains tax, so keep that in mind when you get whatever money you clear from the sale.

There's a ton of information online that should give you whatever additional information you're curious about.

Hi daff!

Sadly no, inheritances outside of small tickets were never a thing in my family up till now. But hopefully that'll change with my generation.

Sorry, I misspoke. He does not have a will because he had a living trust, of which he was the trustee. Which made this family friend the trustee now that hes gone. Literally everything is in possession of this guy, and whatever he wants, he gets first- then it goes to me. There was the verbal and witnesses command of the house going to me, and I do feel like this guy is going to honor that (knock on fucking wood). From my understanding, that is the job of the executor (trustee), is to distribute assets in the manner the deceased wanted (like a lawyer would with a will).
All of this trust business is in order to be beneficial, from what I know, in that it skips probate cuz this dude is handling everything. I do not think I actually need to be present or even sign if he puts the deed in my name, as its an inheritance to an obvious heir. I am flying out tomorrow though cuz I want it done quickly so dude doesnt get any sneaky ideas.

bigblu89 posted...

There's a ton of information online that should give you whatever additional information you're curious about.

the problem here is that Im actually not finding the information on the thing I am ignorant about. I understand the choice of selling, the step-up basis from FMV to dictate the capital gains tax when I sell. I just dont necessarily know how the executor transfers it, and I only want to know that because it sounds like he doesnt know himself. I guess we obviously can consult an attorney but I think he has *just* enough knowledge that he isnt wanting to dish out on that. And Im broke as a mf. This trip is going to set me back so I can only hope the house doesnt need repairs so I can get it listed while Im there. :/

Shamino posted...

Do you have a copy of the current will?

I have seen the trust and have photographs. I also know where a copy is located in his house, and the people that have copies. though I understand he thought a trust was a better option than a will, I honestly have no clue why he wasnt more specific in his trust. It very much worries me

bigblu89 posted...

When my parents passed back in 2020, me an my sister gained dual ownership of their house. The executor of their will, who also happened to be my uncle, worked with my parents lawyer to get all the paperwork together to transfer the deed to myself and my sister. We then sold the house.

sounds like your sister was pretty cooperative with the sale, did splitting it have any weird complications?

You should piss off about half of CE, and become a landlord now.

Edit: sorry, went back through the topic and see you got what you need Re: FMV, step up in basis, etc, so my post isnt needed then :)

I dunno.. being an out-of-state landlord is no bueno, so maybe dont go the route of post #9 and piss CE off (lol). Unless there is a decent local property management company in the area, taking advantage of the step-up and getting a potential windfall could be the best option. Theres also the risks of the housing market continuing to weaken and for prices to keep falling from where they are now.

Daffadilio posted...

sounds like your sister was pretty cooperative with the sale, did splitting it have any weird complications?

Not really, because 1) My sister and I are (thankfully) very close and have a good relationship, and 2) my parents will was fairly detailed to basically have us split all of their assets evenly.

So we just had the lawyer that wrote up my parents will talk us through everything.

Questionmarktarius posted...

You should piss off about half of CE, and become a landlord now.

Im a way I already am? Not entirely but I have roommates living in my house lol.
yeah id really only consider renting this property (my dads) out if it was like to a friend. I do have friends in that area but its not really a thing Id volunteer unless I knew someone was down on their luck. Talking to realtors they say rn it would be smart to go ahead and sell. Got that opinion from a few, including ones that do property management.

bigblu89 posted...

So we just had the lawyer that wrote up my parents will talk us through everything.

im glad that went so easy then! Of course sad it was those circumstances tho Wish my dad would have just did shit the traditional way I tried to persuade him towards the end but he was kind of losing his grip. Hopefully it works out

Im extremely sorry.

I would a real estate agent or whoever to get the house ready to be rented and rent it out.

My mom passed away last year, but she hadn't made a will, so the house is still sitting in probate for another few months. I've been paying the mortgage for the last several months on a property I don't even legally own, and I hate that.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

My mom passed away last year, but she hadn't made a will, so the house is still sitting in probate for another few months. I've been paying the mortgage for the last several months on a property I don't even legally own, and I hate that.

Jeez, thats so stressful. I feel like such a long drawn out thing can probably affect your grieving as well, so Im really sorry to hear thats happening ;/
I could be wrong but I feel like I read you may be able to write off those payments on your taxes, not that thats a large reprieve but it may be something worth looking into. Good luck, friend