This is about inheritance please help.?

Question

My mother owns a house and the mortgage is all payed off.

There are no surviving spouse for her.

*If she were to suddenly die without the will, does the house become mine? Yes or No

Does all her money, stocks, bank accounts become mine? Yes or No

If i do inherit all those, do i have to pay anything to the goverment? Yes or No..and if so how much %?

If i get her property such as her house (not money) do i still owe government anything? Yes or No.

Also if i have a sister then who will get the house? me or her?

Please answer short and direct

Answer 1

  If your Mother dies without a will or trust and lives in the United States then her estate will be probated which costs some money.  In California the minimum probate costs $33K (the fees are set by law).  If she has a trust then there is no probate and consequently no probate fees.  If she only has a will, there will be probate for any estate over $100K (which will cost $33K at minimum).

  The first $2 million of value of an estate are excluded from Federal Estate Tax.  If the total estate is valued at less than $2 million, then there is no tax due to the government.

  As far as who gets what, the order of inheritance would be her children-equal shares.  So if she has one child- 100%, if two children-50% each, if 5 children-20% each.  Since there are two of you, one of you has to either buy out the other's share to have the house or you sell it and divide the money.  

  Most states, like California, do not have Inheritance Tax.  However if you live in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania orTennessee, then you may have to pay Inheritance Tax to the state.

Answer 2

It goes to whoever she puts on her will.

If she doesn't have one, then usually everything goes to the next of kin. If she isn't married, this is usually the children. If there is more than one this gets split equally (provided hey are over 18).

It's worth considering that if you don't have a will, courts make decisions over where everthing goes, can freeze access to money/assets and the process can be really SLOW. It's not a nice thing to think about but if you have children, it would be a good idea to consider even a very basic one.  

Answer 3

First of all, it depends upon what country you live in.

Her surviving children will get her estate - the house, contents, all the monetary stuff. This would be the amount left after the funeral and cemetery plot is paid for, any any outstanding debts paid. One final income tax form must be sent in, and that's usually a hefty bill.

I live in Canada, and the estate (meaning the value of absolutely everything she owned) has to go through probate - and the government takes a percentage - for court costs it's seven percent per every $1,000. Also there are legal fees, if a lawyer has to administer the estate, which starts with a flat fee, then goes to a percentage of the value of the estate.

And yes, if you only get the property, you still have to do the above.

Sorry, there's no short and simple - you need to look up the laws where you live.

Life is much easier if she were to leave a will.