If you keep your home until you pass away, the home will likely pass through probate. Many times, multiple adult children do not want to keep their parents’ home and have no use for it. Instead, they opt to sell the house and split up the money that they bring in.
However, you may be considering selling the house before you pass away, thereby removing it from the probate process. Is this wise?
Where are you going to live?
The first question, naturally, is where you’ll live. If you want to stay in the family home, it may be the best financial decision just to do so and let the children handle it later on. If you’re going to move into a nursing home or assisted living facility anyway, though, owning a home can actually cost your estate in taxes, maintenance costs and much more. Selling in advance may be wise.
You make things easier for the children
A big advantage of selling the house is that you help your children through what can be a difficult process. They have to do a lot to go through the home and get it ready for a sale, not to mention the process of actually selling it to a third party. This can all take months, delaying when they get the money from the sale and raising the odds of a dispute. Selling in advance means you just add cash to your other financial assets and pass that on directly, which is faster and easier.
The entire probate process can be complicated and comes with many questions and responsibilities, so it’s important for everyone involved to know what steps to take to accomplish the goals you have for your estate.