Harrison, NJ Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You can pass the title to your wife after you die if you both own the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.  It abbreviated JTWROS.  If a husband and wife own the property as JTWROS its as if together they own 100% of the property and if one dies, the survivor still owns 100%.  The property passes regardless of what the will says, and passes without probate.  

This is a complex question that cannot be answered here.  There are many issues at play.  You have estate tax on the entire estate, and possibly some kind of transfer tax.  The disposition of this property has to be done as part of an over all estate plan, not just piecemeal for one property.  

First you have to look at the total value of the estate.  Estate tax is imposed on estates with a total value over $675,000.  You look at all of the assets in the estate and then deduct certain costs and expenses like funeral costs, attorney's fees, etc.  If the total amount remaining after the deductions is over $675,000 then you will pay tax.  If you become a joint owner of the house, then when you sell it you will pay capital gains tax on the difference between the sales price and the price your mother bought the house for in the 1980.  Balancing those two taxes out, I would say leave the house in mom's name and pay the estate tax - its less than you will pay in capital gains.  You will not pay inheritance taxes because you are Class A beneficiaries as children of the decedent.