Beware of Informal Real Estate Transactions After the Estate Settles
Family togetherness means not keeping count of who pays for what. In the best moments, this means that family members can ask each other for help without feeling embarrassed or feeling that the response will be a balance sheet that presents the requesting family member in a negative light. In the worst moments, it leads to confusion. If an item of property belongs to everyone, which family member is legally responsible for it? The answer to this question and the legal implications of this answer are unlikely to please everyone. The owner of the car will incur the increased car insurance premiums, no matter which family member crashed the car. An inherited house is a rare item of generational wealth these days, and all the better if multiple family members can live in it. It matters which one is the legal owner, though, because the legal owner is the one who must pay property taxes on the house and who can borrow against its equity. If your family has implemented your own plans for an inherited house after the estate of the relative that you inherited it from settled, contact a Washington, D.C. real estate lawyer.
Unofficially Owning a House That a Relative of Yours Officially Inherited Can Be a Costly Mess
Decades ago, a widow updated her will, indicating that her daughter, the mother of a young girl, would inherit her house. By the time the testator died, the granddaughter had grown up and was married with children of her own. The whole family had discussed the plan for the granddaughter to live in the grandmother’s house with her husband and children, but the grandmother never got around to updating her will, so the daughter inherited the house.
Before she moved into the house with her husband and children, the granddaughter paid her mother $200,000 to buy the house from her. The parties never formally transferred the deed, though, and this led to lots of hassles later on.
If one family member inherits a house and another family member wants to buy it from them, the parties should enlist the help of a real estate lawyer to get through the process once the estate settles. The parties should register the sale of the house and record the title in the county where the house is located. The family member that sold the house should also sign a quitclaim deed, acknowledging that he or she no longer owns the house. This can prevent confusion, regardless of whether the heir sold the house to another relative or simply gave the house to another relative without exchanging any money. If you give someone a house as a gift, you may be responsible for paying gift taxes.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. About Transferring Real Estate Property Between Family Members
A Washington, D.C. real estate attorney can help you if you inherited a house and now you want to sell it or give it to a family member as a gift. Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Source:
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