tax implications Archives

January 17, 2024April 26, 2024

You Can Quitclaim Your Home to a Loved One to Skip Probate Costs. Is It Worth It?

A quitclaim deed easily, quickly transfers your home’s title. You can use a quitclaim to give a home to someone else, with no expectation of a payment from the recipient. Some people use quitclaims to pass homes to their family members.

So, is this a good way to carry out your wishes yourself — a sort of early estate planning? Who needs their home going under a probate court’s supervision after they die, right? And who wants to pay huge fees to the county for the trouble?

Fair questions. But…

December 29, 2023April 25, 2024

Added to a Deed: What Are the Tax Consequences?

It’s a common question. You’re going to be added onto someone’s deed. Will you have to declare your new homeownership to the IRS?

An acquisition of real estate is not considered income. But being named on a deed could still implicate taxes. Let’s explore why.

April 21, 2021April 26, 2024

Marriage and the Quitclaim Deed

When is a quitclaim a good way to transfer a whole or partial interest in a home? In a simple transaction among familiar parties. Especially where no money changes hands. No wonder quitclaim deeds are often used between spouses.

Here, we take a look at a variety of ways quitclaims can convey property between partners in marriage.

December 23, 2020April 26, 2024

Is a Quitclaim Deed Subject to Tax?

Quitclaims are sometimes used to transfer property interests from one family member to another, or between divorcing spouses. Parents might wonder if they should use quitclaims to pass property to children to avoid the probate process. It’s easy enough to do. The homeowner signs the document with a notary, takes it to the county recorder of deeds, and has it recorded. Simple. No wonder adding someone to a deed or relinquishing rights through a quitclaim is often (mistakenly) called a “quick claim” deed. But what does the Internal Revenue Service think?

October 26, 2012April 27, 2024

Adding a Person to a Deed Using a Quitclaim Deed

One of the most common incorrect assumptions in real estate is that someone can be added to a deed. If one person owns a piece of real estate and wants to bring on another owner, this means that the current owner would give up their interest in the property to themselves and the other person. Both people would acquire their interest in the property at the same time in the chain of title. The chain of title in real estate has been established so that an interest in real estate cannot be valued by the amount of time an owner has been in possession of the real estate.