Submitted by wafflekween t3_11e5mu5 in personalfinance
Hi everyone, I’m just hoping to get some insight.
My mother moved in with my grandmother into my grandmother’s house about eight years ago to take care of her as she was going downhill. My grandmother passed away in October. My mother has been on the deed of the house for the last twenty or so years (with my nana having a life estate in the house, so it couldn’t go to pay for Medicare when she went into a nursing home). The house is a very modest ~1k sq foot home that my grandparents bought for less than 50k in the late 70s. But it’s on Cape Cod (MA). And it’s waterfront property.
My mom has been having health issues recently and has gone to the same lawyer who set up my nana’s life estate to figure out how to do something similar - how to protect the house so it couldn’t be used as payment in the future for Medicare. My mother has lived as a single mother for the last thirty years (she was widowed when I was a toddler) and has very little savings, but has this house. She wants to be able to pass it on.
Her lawyer advised that she have a recent realtor assessment done of the house, which came back astronomical ($1.5 million). Again, this is exclusively because of the location. There’s literally mold in the linoleum floor, lol.
Her lawyer is now saying she owes $65k in estate taxes for inheriting the house. Obviously, this is a major problem because my mother is 68 and working PT due to said health issues, and neither of us have $65k hanging around. I’m confused however, because she’s been on the deed for over twenty years. Was it because my grandmother was also on the deed, so my mom inherited her ownership in addition to her own? Is there anything we can do about this?
Relevant edits: 1.) My mother is the sole name on the deed and has been since the early 2000s.
2.) Her lawyer is an 'elder services' lawyer.
3.) She received a CMA from a realtor, not an assessment with an inspection.
4.) I do not give a crap about getting an inheritance. I would be perfectly fine with my mother selling this house if that is what she wants to do, and letting her use the $$ to buy a different home and fund her retirement. I am not looking for a penny. She doesn't have any interest in that. She wants to keep her home.