My mother-in-law owns a house (paid for) and she is going to be selling it to myself and my husband. She has obligations to the state in the form of back taxes. She wants to transfer the title to us but I am worried. She told me I would have to pay the lawyers fees and such but I cannot afford that right now. I was wondering if there is a way to file it in the register's office myself and save the money. She I s not requiring that we pay anything until January '09. I want to make sure she is not being swindled. Also, I want to make sure I don't have to pay gift tax because I am not paying anything at the time of transfer. If someone could let me know the basic procedure to get this done without having to waste money with a lawyer it would be great. I know if you can file a divorce yourself you should be able to tranfer a deed yourself.

You can transfer a deed yourself, but in a case like this with back taxes owed and the potential of gift taxes, etc being involved I wouldn't risk it. Is she selling it to you for less than it's fair market value?

Personally, I would recommend contacting a local title company. Tell them what you're wanting to do, what info you know about the property, and see what they recommend.

And who is planning to pay the lien? You or her?

Yeah, I'd NOT try to do this yourselves.

You can transfer a deed yourself, but in a case like this with back taxes owed and the potential of gift taxes, etc being involved I wouldn't risk it. Is she selling it to you for less than it's fair market value?

Personally, I would recommend contacting a local title company. Tell them what you're wanting to do, what info you know about the property, and see what they recommend.

And who is planning to pay the lien? You or her?

Yeah, I'd NOT try to do this yourselves.

There isn't a lien the house is completely paid for and yes, I am paying less than tax value. She has to get it out of her name before they take her assets but we are still purchasing the house it is not a gift.

Hmm. I would still recommend going the title company route on this one.

If she owes money to the government and owns property I would say that it's highly unlikely that nothing has been attached to the property. Plus she doesn't want to get into a more complicated tax situation for improperly "gifting" something.

There are just too many red flags in a situation like this to try to do it yourself. It will cost you a little bit up front to have it all handled properly (I, personally, would purchase a title policy). Or you run the risk of problems surfacing down the road to the extent where you could lose the house. Especially if you're dealing with the government. And she could get in even more trouble it it is determined that she was trying to hide assets.