Deciding what you want to do with your home in the future after you have passed on is a difficult decision that is emotional, financial, and realistic all at the same time. It is wise to talk about your home plans with your family members to prevent disputes. There are many ways you can go about transferring your house, by including a revocable trust, will, deed, or transfer on death document to your estate plan. A house is property that could be worth a significant amount, complicated to inherit, and may have so many memories attached to it. For these reasons and more, it is important to develop a strategy for what will happen to the home, and use an estate plan to protect it.
Before preparing for the transfer of your home, consider your financial situation and future goals. What would you want to happen to the house? Who will be impacted? By understanding what your goals are, you can better make choices and discuss them with your family. Keep in mind that your children may have different opinions about what should be done with the family home or who should inherit. By talking about these issues ahead of time, it can prevent serious disputes and delays when the time comes for the property to be distributed to your chosen beneficiary.
Beneficiaries are people that you want to have certain assets after you have passed on, such as your home. By writing an estate plan, you are essentially preparing for a time when those you care about the most will receive the assets you designated for them. Your beneficiaries to your estate can be people like your friends and family members, or charity organizations that mean something to you. Depending on the assets for your estate and personal preferences, you may choose to discuss what is in your estate plan with your beneficiaries now or wait for them to be notified after your passing.
One popular idea that people have when transferring their familial home down to children is adding heirs as co-owners for the deed of the house. If the deed has someone else as the joint tenant named, then they will share ownership at the time the deed is updated, automatically taking ownership upon the owner’s passing. However, there are potential drawbacks to consider too. Such as, if a child is named the co-owner, there are considerations for gift taxes. There may be a limit to how much you can give to someone else without being forced to pay the gift tax.
As your lawyer understands, like a property lawyer families trust at Silverman Law Office, PLLC, the family home is often one that is cherished and can be emotional to part with. Handing down your family home can be made just that much easier if you make plans now that will go into effect after your death. By writing an estate plan now and preparing for who will have it in the future, you’ll know that your home will be handed down to those who appreciate it the most.
If you have questions about a prenup agreement or a postnup agreement or require legal assistance in other areas of Family Law you may always contact Damien McKinney of The McKinney Law Group to discuss your case further. He can be reached by phone at 813-428-3400 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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