Marquette, MI Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

CAN you do this? Probably. SHOULD you do this? It depends on information not included in your summary. You potentially have a serious income tax issue because of the way that this was set up. Gifts come with a "carryover basis," attached to them. That means that your basis for income tax purposes is whatever your mother's basis in the property was. If she has been there a while, that is probably a pretty low figure. If you sell the property, the difference between the sales price and the basis will be a capital gain to you. It could be significant. The alternative, depending on how the deed was set up, is to wait until your mother passes away, at which point, you might be entitled to a "step up" in basis to the fair market value of the property, as of the date of death. That could make the difference between paying tens of thousands of dollars in income tax and paying nothing at all. You also have potential Medicaid issues if your mother runs out of funds in the next two years. Her transfer of the property to you would be considered divestment, under federal law. That would render her ineligible for benefits for a period of time. If you can get beyond these two issues, there would probably be no problem in accomplishing what you wish to do.

I suggest you retain an attorney to review your exact circumstances. This information is only intended to give general information in response to an inquiry. It does not establish an attorney client relationship. This response is only based upon the limited facts presented and is merely intended to assist you in determining if you should contact an attorney to provide you with legal advice.

A will can only represent the wishes of one person. Your mother's estate would have to be settled by the state's intestacy laws. Your father's will would only apply to his own estate.