Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Get the house appraised. Twice! Average the values if they are within 5% and use that as the price. If they are farther apart get a third and average the two that are closest; toss out the other. Tell the niece that is the price. Some of her aunts and uncles may care to give a discount to "keep the house in the family." Any sibling that cares to gift the niece any or all of their share may do so on their own and deal with the tax consequences themselves. Her mother, of course, would be expected to take no money from her daughter as she has been so generous with everyone else's money, but that's her call.
And find out about the rest of the estate and how the resident sister has proclaimed herself executor if there never was a will, you may all be facing IRS penalties for waiting so long.
The legal & financial (IRS) issues with waiting so long may or may not be a problem. Also the financial (IRS) problems of gifting the niece money (by lowering the price of the house) may or may not be a problem. And, don't forget that the Medicaid Five Year Look Back (and "hiding"/giving away assets) may or may not cause significant problems for the older siblings.
One of the reasons that all of you need to see an attorney is that "you don't know, what you don't know."
I don't recall if any posters brought up the Medicaid Five Year Look Back earlier in this thread or not, but selling a house for under its true value is strictly prohibited and would warrant a significant penalty. What a shame, if an older sibling wants to do something nice for their niece (or is just afraid of Big Sis) and it means a $75,000 penalty for them when they need nursing home care. That is a reason to talk with an attorney who can look at the full situation.
Maybe everyone here could agree to stop posting on this thread until the OP posts after all is said and done. At least that way our collective sanity can be saved until we find out how it all ended.
Because that's what people with money do. They often cheat others.
Wow, that is cynical and prejudiced comment - why do you think that it is ok to say about someone better off without any facts, try replacing the statement "people with money" with a race or gender and see how it sounds. Not cool.
Maybe everyone here could agree to stop posting on this thread until the OP posts after all is said and done. At least that way our collective sanity can be saved until we find out how it all ended.
At this point I have all the info that I need. I want to thank everyone for the helpful recommendations. I will let everyone know the outcome.
Please come back later and tell us how this story ends. Good luck!
I definitely will. It is sometimes difficult to juggle a full time job(60 hrs per wk) ,find lawyer, schedule an appt to see a lawyer, and respond to postings.
And make time for these ridiculous family estate meetings
Wow, that is cynical and prejudiced comment - why do you think that it is ok to say about someone better off without any facts, try replacing the statement "people with money" with a race or gender and see how it sounds. Not cool.
Cool or not, it's true.
There are countless examples of rich people cheating others. Many need to look no further than their own families. Often the wealthiest family members are the ones who are always trying to pull a fast one.
I definitely will. It is sometimes difficult to juggle a full time job(60 hrs per wk) ,find lawyer, schedule an appt to see a lawyer, and respond to postings.
And make time for these ridiculous family estate meetings
But it will likely be worth it once this matter is put to rest.
I hope your sister and her daughter realize that the best way to keep the family from splitting apart is to treat everyone fairly.
If the daughter has $600K cash, and wants to keep the house, then having it appraised, obtaining a mortgage, and paying each their fair share will go a long way towards that.
A drawn out court battle is in no one's best interest, as a judge is unlikely to decide to shortchange seven siblings so that one niece gets a good deal on a house.
There are countless examples of rich people cheating others. Many need to look no further than their own families. Often the wealthiest family members are the ones who are always trying to pull a fast one.
While it may be true that people "with money" "often" cheat others, I think you'd be hard pressed to support the argument that that group "cheats" _more_ than those who don't (vague definitions aside), hence the push back.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
