Legal Question in Tax Law in California

Re: inheritance tax?

Hi,

Generally speaking, with respect to creditors and state property rights, if you and one (or two) other individuals own property in joint tenancy, and one joint tenant dies, the remaining joint tenants' title to the property relates back to the original deed creating the joint tenancy. Therefore, you and your father's girlfriend would most likely be found to have joint tenancy ownership of the property that relates back to the date of the original deed, rather than his date of death.

However, the 'relation-back' theory does not pertain to federal estate taxes (the California inheritance tax law was repealed). For federal estate tax purposes, the entire value of the property (including your interest, and that of your father's girlfriend), could be subject to estate tax, depending upon who made the actual purchase of the house and the verification avaialble for the purchase. However, if your father's entire estate, including the property and any other assets he owned at his death is valued at less than $2,000,000, it possible that no estate tax (or estate tax return) will have to be filed. If you are concerned about a potential estate tax liability in your father's estate, I would advise you to seek the advice of a local estate planning attorney, or consult with your accountant about that issue.