Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

Re: How to (painlessly) add a name to the title of a home

The faster way is to have your sister add you to the title...this way you both own it. The have your sister removed from title down the line. You can only get the star if she is not another owner elsewhere though if you are both on title.

Seek legal advise in any regard. Call the local bar assocaition in Cortlandt for a name or two of an attorney.

Good Luck

RRG

Re: How to (painlessly) add a name to the title of a home

You could have handled this by having your sister repudiate the legacy; assuming that there are no other heirs, this would have resulted in her executing an executor's deed to you and this would all have been done already. Now there is no alternative but to prepare a deed plus real property transfer tax return. Not a big problem, these forms are readily available and it's not rocket science to fill them out. There is, however, a potential downside: your sister now has potential exposure to Federal Gift Tax. Not simple. This could have been avoided if your sister had repudiated the legacy, since then, the estate tax (or applicable exemption) would have covered the transfer to you. But now, she is the legal owner of the property and if she gives it to you, there may be a gift tax, e.g., if the value of the house exceeds the threshold. Even if it is under the threshold (currently $1 million) your sister may prefer to use the exemption for another gift (the exemption applies to the giver for her entire lifetime). There may be ways around this, but they are not amenable to exploration on a bulletin board. In other words, please forgive me, but you're going to need the assistance of a lawyer to work around the thorns of the briar patch into which you have thrown yourselves.