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Upon both of their eventual death, the executor recorded the deed with the county. The house did not go through probate even though there was a will stating that the surviving children will have an equal share in the house upon their death. The county recorded the quit claim deed and it now has our parents and all three children's names recorded as owners. We intend to sell the house after renovation and split the proceeds. How do we clean this up, and will the children get a step up basis?

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Reply to Geaton777
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Why did they include themselves to continue as owners after their deaths? The deed may not be valid, because your parents could not have given the share of their home to deceased people, which are themselves. And unless your parents died at the same time, the property should have passed from one to the other of them upon the first one's death. Was that person's estate not probated? Definitely get a competent lawyer to sort this out. Has the rest of the estate been settled? If not, have the lawyer on board for that, because the executor, however well-intentioned, needs guidance. (I know of an estate in which the owner quitclaimed shares of land to others shortly before his death. The heirs learned afterward that the deeds weren't valid because they did not meet the zoning requirements, and had to have an attorney clear up that situation.)
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Reply to MG8522
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You need a Real Estate attorney to deal with that QCD mess. To me - NAL btw but have been an Executor more than once - my initial reaction is to find out from the RE atty if that QCD can be considered valid or if it could be considered invalid and so goes through a process - done by an atty - to revoke it or get a Quiet Title Action done.

You need a Tax Attorney or a solid CPA to advise you on tax liability after a determination of ownership is reached.

You mention an “executor” did the QCd filing, so was probate opened?? and someone was named to be the executor of the estate???
Normally a will is entered into probate court and within the will there is someone named to become the Executor….. so probate court usually legally designates that person to become the Executor via Letters Testamentary and under a Independent Administration or a Dependent Administration. Did this happen? or is it that someone in the family is DIYing this but isn’t designated by the court formally as Executor?

If you and your siblings (& their spouses or partners) are not 100 & 1% all kumbaya with each other, and will not be 1000 & 1% willing to and able to equally pay all the costs for attorneys, tax pros and whatever fees plus house renovation costs without hesitation, then you for your own position - imho & NAL - need a probate atty who does litigation to deal with all this on your behalf.
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Reply to igloo572
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MIGer6785 22 hours ago
Thanks. I am the executor and the only thing left in the estate is the house. At the time our parents wrote the QCD, Ladybird deeds weren't really a thing. The estate attorney indicated to us that the QCD would suffice and would avoid probate. When I recorded the QCD after my mom died I gave the county copies of both our dad and mom's DC. Not sure why they included our parents names in the recording. The only reason I recorded it was to get notified in case someone tried stealing the house knowing that both owners had died. We intend to sell it after completing deferred maintenance items. I will talk with the estate attorney who is a highly respected elder law attorney that my folks had hired 24 yrs ago.
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I would hire a lawyer to help you clean this up. Don't DIY it.
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Reply to Rosered6
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