Pre Inheritance

[yogi]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California. My father wants to give my sister $10,000.00 for a downpayment on a house. The money would come out of her portion of the estate which is to be split evenly 3 ways. Is there a way for this to be done without her having to pay taxes (Inheritance) but also shows on the will that she's received $10,000.00 from her portion of the estate? Thanks!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[20pilot]

Sister gets $10K now as an unconditional gift. There is no tax liability. The mortgage company will want to see a letter indicating that it is an unconditional gift.

The will is modified to say that the estate is split 3 ways so that person A and B get equal amounts and person C gets $10K less than person A & B. There are no additional tax issues than if the estate was split equally.

However, what happens if the estate is worth less than $20K? I know that may not seem likely today, but it happens. There are many people who went to bed thinking they were millionaires and woke up with news about a guy named Madoff and the fact that they were now poppers. I suggest that you make provisions for that in the will. Have the will explicitly state that if the estate is less than $20K, she gets nothing. Otherwise this can become a can of worms that can eat up the entire will in legal fees.

[yogi]

Thank You Pilot!