If you are the adult child of aging parents both you and your parents may be facing some difficult decisions over the next several years. One of those decisions is what to do with your parent’s home. If your parents ultimately plan to leave you their home you may wonder if it is it a good idea for your parents to give you their home now instead of waiting until they die. The fact specific nature of the question, along with the numerous potential ramifications of the decision, make it even more important that you speak directly with an experienced Missouri estate planning attorney for deciding how proceed.
There are two common reasons why your parents may wish to give you their house now instead of waiting and making the gift at the time of death. The first is that your parents believe turning over ownership to the house now will eliminate the need for the house to become part of the probate of their estates when they die. The second common reason is because your parents need to qualify for assistance from a state or federal program such as Medicaid. Both reasons are valid reason; however, they may not be in your best interest.
Transferring ownership of the home now will eliminate the need for the home to go through the probate process; however, your parents may lose out on considerable tax benefits by giving up ownership of the home. Moreover, you may ultimately pay in several ways for taking ownership early. If you need to qualify for assistance from a state or federal agency.
If you have additional questions or concerns about the guardianship process in the State of Missouri, or about estate planning in general, contact the experienced Missouri estate planning attorneys at Amen, Gantner & Capriano, Your Estate Matters, LLC by calling (314) 966-8077 to schedule an appointment.
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