#FamilyEstatePlanning #GenerationalHome #CapeCodRealEstate 🏡
Hey everyone! So here’s a situation that’s got me scratching my head – my wife’s uncle wants to sell us his house next door for what’s left on the mortgage, but he wants to continue living there until his very last day. He really wants to keep the home in the family for generations to come, and I’m all for that!
I’m on the lookout for the best legal way to make this happen. Here’s what I’ve been thinking:
– Establishing a family trust with the uncle as a life tenant
– Drafting a lease agreement with specific terms for his occupancy
– Working with a real estate attorney to ensure all parties are protected
Has anyone been in a similar situation or have any advice to offer? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences! Let’s chat 👇 #FamilyEstate #RealEstateLegalAdvice
If you think it’s going to get challenged, then he needs to talk to a real estate or estate lawyer. They can walk him through the process.
(Note that if he sells you an $800,000 house for $200k, the other 600 is likely to be a gift, which will have tax implications).
He can explore other options like putting the house in a trust or just putting you in the will to get the house when he dies.
But the lawyer is what he needs.
He’s looking for a ‘life estate’ or ‘lady bird deed’ which would allow him to live in the property until his passing, at which time it would pass to you. Contact a lawyer in MA to work this up.
Alternatively, he could look at setting up a trust to take ownership of the property
> he wants to see the house remain it family for generations
He may not be able to enforce this. He’ll want to discuss his options with the attorney.
You definitely need to speak with an estate attorney because if it is sold under market value and he needs to go into a long term care facility there can be some implications. The look back period is typically 5 years and gifts can make him ineligible for some benefits. The plan is for him to remain in the house until he dies but things don’t always go according to plan.
Then a real estate attorney to help manage the transaction if you do decide to proceed with the purchase.
Definitely consult an MA estate planning attorney. Yes, there could be problems with selling the house for this much under value. No gift tax in MA, but Medicaid could dislike the sale very much if he needed care on their dime.
But people are forgetting that he wouldn’t be selling it to you outright, he’d be retaining a life estate AND putting conditions on future transfers. So he’d likely want it to go into a trust or maybe just retain a life estate on the deed. Either way, the actual value of the transfer could be significantly less than the ~ $600,000.
It’s definitely doable and not very tricky, but it should be done right.