emotional—in mind. It’s the executor who makes the final determination. Where the executor is also a sibling, those determinations can lead to arguments and a breakdown in family relations, so be cautious! For tax considerations, the tax basis of the inheritance is the value of the home on the day the owner of the willed property died. The difference between the home’s value and the amount received after the sale of the property is the gain on which taxes are owed. Where more than one sibling inherits the home, the gain is divided equally, and each heir will claim their share of both money and taxes. If the property sells for less than its assessed value, then there will be no gain to be reported.
SELLING A HOUSE IN AN ES E IN AN ESTATE DIFFERS
A house is sold in probate court when someone dies intestate (without a will) or without bequeathing their property. When that happens, the state administers the property’s sale, according to state law. A probate sale is the process in which the executor of the estate of a deceased person sells property from the estate (typically real estate) to divide the property’s value among the beneficiaries of the deceased. A personal representative of the estate will determine if the real estate is going to be sold at all, however, and isn’t required to use the services of a real estate broker. A probate referee might be needed to determine the value of real estate and to perform other functions. Even absent a will in effect at the time of death, if there’s a valid living trust the lengthy and costly process of probate can be bypassed, avoiding fees that include attorney, court, and arbitrator costs. In total, these fees can cost a solid 6% of the overall estate value, whether that value is represented by boats, cars, bank savings, retirement funds, securities, personal items,
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