Inheritance questions.?

Question

If My mom were to pass away, and she owns a house does that become mine automatically?

And also, if i have a sister does she gets half the share? even if she is married and don't live with us?

And when you inherit property do you pay taxes or something like that to the government?

Answer 1

It depends.  If your mom has a will she can leave the house to anyone she wants.  If she doesn't have one then the government gets to decide how her estate (everything she owned) gets divided up.  They pay her final bills and then have laws that vary from state to state for how they divide up the rest.  And yes, you pay an inheritance tax.

Answer 2

Your sister entitled to HALF of everything. It does not make any difference where she lives or whether she is married or not. Then there are Inheritance tax.  

Answer 3

You dont inherit the house, you inherit the grass around it!!!

Answer 4

1.  if there is no will then the interested parties need to file a claim with the court to get the estate.  In this case the government takes a percentage of the estate for probating estate.

2.    if there is a will then the will should be followed.  you can contest it if you don't like.  Unless your mother is every wealthy--the government will not tax your inheritance.  Your average everyday person does not leave enough for the government to tax the inheritance.

3.  property tax is a separate issue from inheritance taxes.  If you and your sister get her house, then you will be responsible for paying it off if there is still an outstanding mortgage.  you will also be responsible for any and all annual property taxes that are due on the house.  If you can't afford the mortgage or the taxes then you'll have to sell the home to pay it off or pay the taxes and then split any profits that you may have left over.

check with your mom and see if she has a will.  It's alright to discuss how she wants things split up.  FWIW:  with people living longer, often the elderly are forced to sell their homes to pay for their medical bills or sell their homes so they can afford a place in an assisted living facility.

If you like your mom's home and it becomes necessary for her to sell it to take care of herself then make her an offer on the fair market value of the house and see if she'll sell it to you.

Answer 5

It all depends on what your Mother has said in her will of trust.  You Mom does not have to leave either of you anything, she could leave it to the SPCA if she chooses.  If your Mom passes away without a will or trust (that is called being "intestate")  then inheritance of her estate is decided by the law in the state she lived in.  Usually then the estate is divided equally by the children (if there is no spouse), but not always.  Sometimes her parents and possibly her siblings, if living, will also be entitled to a share but that is unusual.  If there are two children, then each gets 50%, if there are 5 children then each gets 20%. The fact that your sister is married and lives somewhere else makes no difference.

  As far as taxes go, Federal Estate Taxes are only paid if the estate is larger than $2 million this year and $3.5 million in 2009.  Most states do not have an Estate Tax.  The Estate taxes, if any, are paid by the estate before it is distributed to the heirs.  There is no Federal Inheritance Tax although some states do have an Inheritance Tax.  Heirs, not the estate,  pay the Inheritance Tax if it is due, but the inheritance would have to be a large amount before the heir would incur any tax.