Posted on: 06th Dec, 2007 08:05 pm
Hi,
An extremely complex issue... my apologies...
I am in the process of selling my home. The title reads my mother and I as joint tenants. The mortgage is in her name alone; however, I pay the mortgage, taxes, and property insurance. We never added me to the mortgage because rates were higher than our current rate and my mother never quit claimed her entire interest because we did not want the bank to drop the mortgage. However, now, we would like to sell the house and are trying to minimize the capital gains tax implications on my mother's "half" since she has never lived here.
If it matters, the funds used to purchase the property can be traced back to proceeds from a personal injury award from a vehicle accident that I was involved in. The money I received there was used to purchase a home in my mom's and my name, mortage in both names. The proceeds were put into a jointly titled bank account and then used to purchase my current home--titled in her name only and her name on the mortgage only because I was a full time student. We then added my name to the deed approximately 3 years ago.
As I said, we want to sell the house now and because my mom has been on the deed and mortgage in name only, what can we do to avoid capital gains? If she quit claims her interest immediately before the sale, I will have owned and lived in my "half" of the interest for the last two years, avoiding capital gains, and while I may have lived in her "half" for the last two years, I won't have owned it--having to pay capital gains?
In the alternative, can we somehow allocate the entire profit from the sale to me so that it will be exempt from capital gains? The profit will be less than the IRC $250/500 maximum as I am married and my husband and I have both lived here for the last 3 years.
Thank you.
An extremely complex issue... my apologies...
I am in the process of selling my home. The title reads my mother and I as joint tenants. The mortgage is in her name alone; however, I pay the mortgage, taxes, and property insurance. We never added me to the mortgage because rates were higher than our current rate and my mother never quit claimed her entire interest because we did not want the bank to drop the mortgage. However, now, we would like to sell the house and are trying to minimize the capital gains tax implications on my mother's "half" since she has never lived here.
If it matters, the funds used to purchase the property can be traced back to proceeds from a personal injury award from a vehicle accident that I was involved in. The money I received there was used to purchase a home in my mom's and my name, mortage in both names. The proceeds were put into a jointly titled bank account and then used to purchase my current home--titled in her name only and her name on the mortgage only because I was a full time student. We then added my name to the deed approximately 3 years ago.
As I said, we want to sell the house now and because my mom has been on the deed and mortgage in name only, what can we do to avoid capital gains? If she quit claims her interest immediately before the sale, I will have owned and lived in my "half" of the interest for the last two years, avoiding capital gains, and while I may have lived in her "half" for the last two years, I won't have owned it--having to pay capital gains?
In the alternative, can we somehow allocate the entire profit from the sale to me so that it will be exempt from capital gains? The profit will be less than the IRC $250/500 maximum as I am married and my husband and I have both lived here for the last 3 years.
Thank you.
Hello,
Now you are owning and living only in your half interest, so you will be eligible for the capital gains exemption only for your half. If your mother quit claims her share to you, you will have to live in that for two more years in order to avoid capital gains.
Now you are owning and living only in your half interest, so you will be eligible for the capital gains exemption only for your half. If your mother quit claims her share to you, you will have to live in that for two more years in order to avoid capital gains.
Thank you for your response.
As an alternative, if we just leave everything as is, regarding the title but, instead, my mother not claim any gain and I claim the entire gain, will we be ok? Will she not have to pay capital gains taxes?
Thank you again.
As an alternative, if we just leave everything as is, regarding the title but, instead, my mother not claim any gain and I claim the entire gain, will we be ok? Will she not have to pay capital gains taxes?
Thank you again.
Hello,
As far as I know, you may qualify for capital gains exemption only for your portion of interest in the property.
As far as I know, you may qualify for capital gains exemption only for your portion of interest in the property.