Debkay53
Sep 9, 2012, 09:32 AM
When my father-in-law died he had deeded his home to his two sons. My brother-in-law bought his half from my husband. Will my husband & I owe any type of gain tax on the property?
ebaines
Sep 10, 2012, 05:54 AM
When you inherit property your cost basis is the fair market value (FMV) of the property as of the date of death of the decedant. In this case because the property was split (I assume 50:50 between your husband and his brother) your husband's cost basis in the property is 50% of its FMV as of the date of death of your father-in-law. Your husband should talk to the executor of the estate to find out if an appraisal was done to establish the FMV as of the date of death - the IRS will want to see a professional appraisal report to establish this .[N.B. - it's possible that the executor of the estate may have chosen to use a valuation date for the property that is actually 6 months after your F-i-L's death - this is pretty rare, but is at the executor's discretion, so your husband should verify with the executor which date was used for valuation purposes.] Now that your husband sold his half share he would owe capital gains tax if the proceeds he received was greater than his cost basis.