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<blockquote data-quote="Tax Counsel" data-source="post: 356047" data-attributes="member: 123067">First, it is not possible for YOU to grant yourself title to the property. That is something your father would have to do. It&#039;s his decision, not yours. Moreover, however strong your feelings are about the house, remember that it is not your asset and it&#039;s your father&#039;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&#039;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&#039;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&#039;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&#039;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&#039;ll avoid by having a well designed plan.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tax Counsel, post: 356047, member: 123067"] [FONT=georgia]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.[/FONT] [/QUOTE]

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