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Do I need a tax lawyer?

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paddyflan1971

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? MD
I don't know if anyone can help me here but I am trying to find out what type of lawyer my wife is going to need. Basically, my wife stepped in to prevent her father from losing his house to foreclosure by finding an investor to buy his house. Her problem is trying to determine ownership of the house because when her mother past away 3 years ago, the will that was left was bizarre. It stated that the ownership of the house goes to my wife but that the house could not be sold until her father past away or he agreed to sell it. When she went to the title company, they stated that under maryland law, marital property automatically goes to the surviving spouse irrespective of a will. However unbeknown to me at the time, when the house was sold, the check was issued to her father and my wife thus making my wife I would assume liable for half of the profit for taxes. Basically, if the MD law I have mentioned is true and my father-in-law did in fact own the house then he would meet the criteria laid down by the IRS for tax free profit on the sale of the house. If he shared ownership then I would assume that he would be then liable for his share of the profit. So basically, I just wanted to know if possible, what type of lawyer would know the answer to the question of ownership after death of a spouse, a real estate lawyer or a tax lawyer?
 


tdavidl

Member
hi. i'm also a MD resident.

look up an estate attorney, not real estate or tax unless they direct you there. sorry, i'm not an attorney, i'm a cpa.

once you've determined ownership you can then work on the tax consequences.

i will throw this out though, based on your story, it sounded like when the titled automatically passed to her father. do the property records show this ? was her mom's named removed ? if so, then it sounds like it was your fathers property. was your wife ever placed on the title ? that question has to be answered. even then, simply because a name is placed on an asset doesn't necessarily make it a "gift" if you will.

again, consult with an estate attorney who can review the wills, etc. & give you some fuidance on owenrship under MD law.
 

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