Property in foreign country

[kumar10]

What is the name of your state? CA

--- This question was originally posted unders "Will, Trusts & Estate Planning". I was asked to post it here as well ---

My father-in-law owns a huge piece of property in India and is planning to sell it and split the proceed amongst his four children. Two of the children (one being my wife) live in the US and are citizens. Two of the children still live in India.

The buyer of the property has agreed to pay the entire proceeds in USD into either my wife's account and/or her siblings account here in the US. Now my questions to the forum are:

1. Would this money be considered a gift or an inheritance. Are there any pros/cons one way or another.
2. Since my wife has the responsibility of transferring 1/2 of the funds back to her siblings in India, what tax implications does she (us) face?
3. Are there any suggested/best ways of handling this scenario?

BTW my in-laws are NOT US residents/citizens - they split their time between here and India always on a visitor visa - but it should not be an issue for them to become one if there are huge tax advantages.

Would appreciate any help/advice.

 

[abezon]

1. The money she keeps is a gift. She will need to report it as a gift from a foreign person if it exceeds $105,000. There's no tax; she just has to report it. Since it's cash, there is no advantage to receiving the money as an inheritance after her parents die.

2. There should be no tax implications as long as she has clear, written instructions from her parents telling her how much to keep & how much to wire to her US sibling & back to India.

3. Is there a reason the parents can't have the title/escrow company wire 1/4 to her, 1/4 to her US sibling, & half to India? That would be cleanest, since never touches anyone else's funds that way. Surely you can find a US escrow company to handle the funds.