Question regarding putting my elderly fathers house in my name, sibling in legal trouble

[rhallmcp]

Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania

I have a long one here, so buckle up…

I have some family with some serious legal issues (no murder or loss of life type stuff). These legal issues are incurring expensive legal fees, and my elderly father has to sell one of his properties to pay for the lawyer for my sibling. I'm against this completely, as he qualifies for a public defender and that should be more than sufficient as the charges are serious and he is never getting out of jail.

Add to this that now the legal situation has gotten worse, and charged my step mother as an accessory to the charges that my sibling is facing.

My family doesn't have money and my elderly parents are concerned about losing everything with this mess.

This is not a financial or fraud crime

I am considering putting the primary house in my name to protect my father and his one remaining asset. Does this sound like a risk on my part?

 

[army judge]

Does this sound like a risk on my part?

Things that have great value, can also create excessive costs for the owner(s).

If you are sincerely concerned for the financial, mental, and spiritual well-being of your parental units; you should endeavor to convince them to seek the services of an attorney in your area, BEFORE the actions of others further harm your parental units.

That said, your parental units aren't dummies.
You don't grow old in this life, reaching senior citizen status by behaving foolishly.

Sometimes, in our desire to help others, we actually cause them harm.

Adults of sound mind should ALWAYS be allowed, and encouraged to make decisions on their own.

No one KNOWS better who or what they choose to support, help, or assist; than the human being making the decision. After all, ma and pa accumulated their wealth, how they choose to disburse it is solely their choice.

 

[adjusterjack]

I am considering putting the primary house in my name to protect my father and his one remaining asset. Does this sound like a risk on my part?

There are pros and cons to the idea. You can google it for that.

But if you have to do it to safe the asset and there's no other way, then you really don't have much choice.

Just understand that YOU don't put the house in your name. Your father has to quitclaim it to you. In other words, give ownership to you by recorded deed. He would have to make that choice.

 

[rhallmcp]

There are pros and cons to the idea. You can google it for that.

But if you have to do it to safe the asset and there's no other way, then you really don't have much choice.

Just understand that YOU don't put the house in your name. Your father has to quitclaim it to you. In other words, give ownership to you by recorded deed. He would have to make that choice.

yeah, that's the process that we will be going through.

 

[Tax Counsel]

I am considering putting the primary house in my name to protect my father and his one remaining asset. Does this sound like a risk on my part?

First, it is not possible for YOU to grant yourself title to the property. That is something your father would have to do. It's his decision, not yours. Moreover, however strong your feelings are about the house, remember that it is not your asset and it's your father's right to do with it as he sees fit. You have no inherent right to inherit any portion of it.

Second, doing what you propose can be costly in terms of tax. First, you'd lose the step up in tax basis in the home if you inherit it after he dies rather than getting it as a gift from him now. That can result you paying a lot more in income tax when you sell it. Second, the gift might result in the loss of any property tax benefits he may have if he's a senior citizen. Third, the gift might cause a reassessment of the property value for property tax, resulting in the property taxes going up.

Third, the property then becomes exposed to your creditors and might not wipe out the claims that your father's current creditors have.

I understand your concern but this is a situation in which a simple gift transfer is very likely not the best solution and could turn out be a very bad choice. You'll need an elder law/estate planning attorney and a tax professional (or an attorney who also is very knowledgeable about tax) to devise a plan that protects the home with the least risk and that costs you as little in tax as possible. The fees paid for that advice will be well worth the aggravation and the extra tax and other possible expenses you'll avoid by having a well designed plan.