House was deeded to one heir, the other wants her "share". Any advice?

oregongirl, when did this happen? I'm so sorry; I must have missed this somewhere

Oregongirl, I think you need to take a big breath and slow down. Only a few months ago you were wishing you could be closer to your family, has that changed? You have developed an emotional attachment to this property, but are you really sure staying is in your best interest in the long run? At any rate he has only been gone a a few days, no need to rush into things.

I am facing the same situation here. He gave me the home about four months before he passed. The taxes will be a killer. I am also the 100% beneficiary on all financial accounts. I can defer receiving that money, which I will do except for a small amount to help me pay bills from the funeral. I am seeing an attorney regarding all of this. It is just to much for me. I don't have any money extra to pay taxes. I don't want to sell the house as I love it and want to live here. They will probably just lien the house. Which is fine with me. Just leave me alone until I die.

If it was deeded over to you **before** he died then that is a gift, anything above $14,000 in one year is TAXABLE INCOME. So you may be in arrears with the IRS. You better be in touch with a tax attorney pronto. And forget about the sibling--if dad wanted to give you his house that is completely within his rights to do so. But the tax problem could make you feel like you didn't get it....especially since, even if you shared the proceeds from a sale, YOU are still on the hook for Income Taxes for the year in which the house was gifted. Sorry. It would have been MUCH better if the house had been Willed to you--that would likely be tax-free.

Sorry-"when he and their mom divorced.."

My dad did this--willed my older half-brothers $1 each, so there would be no questions about my mom and my inheritance. There was no malice or hard feelings involved; he had made a settlement for them when he and their divorced, and moved and started over. in fact, the oldest one was listed as my guardian if necessary, and was the executor.

Cattgoodness... I was told by my attorney that the one dollar thing is not true. If a person disowns their child and spells it out in the Trust and the Will. That's it. I wish I knew if my attorney was correct.

There may be a a little hitch in your plans as unless your brother or sister had at least one dollor left to them in the will they get have of the money left after the sale of the house and all bills just because you think they got there money when your I'll father was alive and they cosigned with him to get him money to live and upkeep his home or keep a home for him did not make you the sole owner of his property after death and paying off his bills .

so then did that give you a warranty deed?

Pam - I have no debts on the house. I had to pay my siblings debt (that was joint with my father) in order to get a clear title on the house so it could be sold! Still asking for "her share". It's getting out of control, I may have to file harassment charges.

My Partner gave me the house as a gift That means there will be gift taxes. After we did that, I was told the Quit Claim was the best way I THINK. Or to get the gift through the Trust instead of during his lifetime. Check with your attorney. Mine is done and I have to live with whatever it ends up being. Values of homes has dropped terribly. It will only get worse. I have been a Realtor for 40 years and I normally could say the Market will come back. I just don't know this time. Fortunately for me, he has no debt. I have run the house and his finances very conservatively. I just hate to think of giving the government anymore money. They just blow it! I will see my accountant to make sure he finds all the protection I can get.

lgwilt, your father's Quit Claim only releases HIS right to the house. It does not relieve you of debts against the house, especially ones he co-signed for. Heiser is right, the transaction is/was an attempt to hide his asset from creditors. You need to call Heiser asap and ask him to refer you to an attorney near you who can handle this.

I have to ask, too, since your father died in debt. Were you able to get a clear title on the house? One problem with a QCD is i can't be used to give away an asset to avoid paying debts during probate. Someone mentioned this before and it was a very good point. This is a good question, since it points out how important getting a warranty deed for a property is.

Who did the QCD to leave the house in your father & your name? Who had your mother left the house to? What people needed to do the QCD's?

Some of the information provided is a bit vague -- like who received gifts and who had claim on the house. More specific information would be helpful. I've often heard that QCD's are problematic, though I don't know enough about the problems to talk about them.

Parents do have favorites for whatever reason and have. Their own ideas about what they want to happen with their assets. My mother put my name on the house a long time ago to make sure that if she passed the homeowners insurance stayed in place. In the meantime, she made me the POA with my stepbrother. After we decided that she was ready to move into my house with my husband and I,she had already lined up a buyer. She had arranged for him to move in and hold the mortgage. I just asked her what would happen if it was not paid off when she died. Would he have to find another mortgage or as the executrix would I have to send checks to each beneficiary of her estate. She said no, I want you to have the proceeds from the house. Just open an account and he will deposit the money directly into your account. I don't know what I would do without you. You are the only one who takes care of me.
I moved here over 30 years ago to be near her and my stepdad. I am her only daughter and the only daughter of my stepfather. I treated him with love and respect. The boys lived their own lives, occasionally called. Maybe visited once a year if they paid for the tickets. They asked for money to help out with buying a house or investing in a business, I never asked for anything.
So yes. I am my mother's favorite and she is mine. If she wants to share her assets with me and I with her so be it.

My sibling also signed that she had no interest in the house, she was perfectly aware!

Yes, I believe you are right about the tax on the gift. That is why I was concerned about getting the house. If your sibling wants the money deduct the tax...

lqwilt Awful. I am so sorry that you had to face that. But, your dad probably thought you would take care of things the proper way. He should have shared with you that he was party to a transaction with your sibling. Maybe he signed something he should not have???

Also, I am not the executor of estate since I am out of state - my sibling is. My gut feeling is to set the money aside as if it was part of the estate because I really don't know what's going on, rather than distributing the funds...

From what I researched, the "gift tax" is paid by the giver?

K. Gabriel Heiser - the house was in my mothers name, her death preceeded my fathers so a quit claim deed was done with my father and my name on it. I live 800 miles away and was not involved until I got the call from my fathers attorney. My sibling has a lot of debt so that's why I was added. I was blinded-sided with settling a judgement before I could sell the property, obviously something my father had be joint on that I was unaware of...

Well, with all that was said, I have to tell you, getting that house may be a burden on you. I did not realize that having a gift of the house was going to be costly to me. My partner deeded his house to me to pay me for my services given while he is alive. BUT, after much study, it would have been better to have him deed it to me in the trust when he passed. Either way, I am responsible for his estate and if there are taxes to be paid, it will be on my shoulders. He owes NOTHING to anyone. That is the way he lives. The house is valued at less than he paid. That is the market we are in. So, the basis probably won't change and may even go down. MAYBE. I certainly am not going to give any percentage to anyone else. When all is said and done, I am the only one who even saw or cared from him since he was diagnosed. His kids hate me so took it out on him and cut him off from any visits whatsoever. His son in Germany and his sister in Germany thank me constantly for what I am doing. But, I love him and will continue till he dies. I will see to it the son in Germany gets some money as he needs it. His sister is very well to do and will not request of me anything. I put the home into my Trust, so we will see how that ends up. Could be interesting. This whole thing with kids and their parents money makes me sick. There is so much selfish living going on. I wonder what is wrong with people.

One ouestion who paid tax on your home while he was I'll who paid upkeep the poaif he can prove he went into the hole paying the up keep can take that out of the sale of the house just be honest did he or she go above and beyond paying to keep the house for you if he did give him some money is only money family is worth a lot more if he's a druggie or a gambler give him bond make him wait for them to mature who know he might too

My mother left me. When she was dying, she had a friend call for me. I went.
She was not so nice to my brother either. She left, to my surprise, pod accounts,
ended up in my name. I split them with brother because I knew it was what my
father, long passed and divorced from this women, would have wanted. Seemed the decent thing to do at the time. I got sick soon after, have I had regrets? Some. Yet indeed it was the right thing to do. For me.

POA is revolved once the person that had it written up dies. Then the executor takes over. Sounds like the POA overstepped his responsibilities. If he used the fathers money for himself he can be sued. Keep the money. Your Dad handed it to u for a reason. If everything done legally, no problem.

Check with a tax person before playing around with property titles! You can get into a situation to where you not only get title but also the original purchase price from the beginning of time--which gives you a large capital gain on sale. (The purchase price might be so low to be under the gift tax threshold.) You're better off having the house willed to you so your base cost when you sell is the market price when you inherit.

As has already been said, this is a legal question with different laws depending on where the property is located. I wonder if the higher ground might be to seek a clear understanding with your sibling. Perhaps with a mediator as this is more than just what legal. A review of what has transpired during the period of time where your father sought the assistance of his children to handle his affairs. When you go through the loans, etcetera you might find the ethical thing is to share your inheritance. You might also find that your sibling owes you money or enable him to see that you are actually not inheriting more than he. For your parents sake, try to work it out and maintain a relationship for future generations.

question I have there as well, weeone, though I hear of it all the time, or is that usually more a matter of just adding your name to the title; would that be different?

Sounds pretty fishy to me that your Dad would bypass everyone else and give you the house. You most likely had some undo influence on him and that will cause you some issues in court if indeed your siblings choose to take you there.

This is a legal question but how can someone "deed over a house" to someone else without incurring a gift tax? You can only give $12,000/year without incurring a tax.

1. Assuming there was no undue influence from you toward your dad, and that he was mentally competent at the time he signed the deed to you, it is certainly your house and you have no obligation toward your sibling. That being said, it is possible--though unlikely--that a creditor could seek to set aside the deed based on the law of fraudulent transfer (which means that if your father knew his debts would exceed his assets he can't give away the house).
2. Re the POA: Giving someone a POA does not revoke your OWN continued ability to sign legal documents and continue to have full legal authority. It simply gives an ADDITIONAL person those powers, too.