Inherting an Estate

[rjohnson233]

ALABAMA
How would I go about getting my mothers house put in my name? She is unemployed, her sole income is from alimony. She paid off the house last year, but want to put it in my name. I am looking for the easiest way to go about doing this. Just wondering should I "buy" it from her? Or do we need to go to the courthouse and obtain some specific documentation?

[anteater]

I take it that this is something that she wants to do?

There is no "buying it" (in quotes) from her. It is either a sale, a gift, or some combination of those. Unless you pay her fair market value, then all or part of the transfer is a gift.

The downsides of a gift are:

1) If she needs to apply for Medicaid assistance within five years of the gift, she may be disqualified for a period of time.

2) If the value of the gift to you is greater than $13,000, then she is required to report the value of the gift greater than $13,000 to the IRS as a reportable gift. From the description of her situation, that probably will not result in a gift tax being due and is just a formality. But it is something that she will need to do.

3) Her cost basis in the house becomes your cost basis. If and when she passes away and if you decide to sell the house, that may result in a capital gain. If you inherit the house upon her passing, the cost basis is stepped up to the fair market value on the date of death. A subsequent sale likely would result in no or little capital gain.

With that said, if she wants to go ahead, a quit claim deed should do. A real estate attorney could help her with this, probably for a few hundred bucks.