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Should I leave my land to my kids? Many people believe that keeping their land for their kids to inherit is the best thing for their family. Experience of other families show this can tear families apart. Unlike cutting up a piece of cake when they were little to make everyone happy, there is no way that property can be evenly divided between your children. In fact, local zoning ordinances may prohibit dividing the land at all. A few real life stories. A farmer left his land to his 2 sons. The older milked the cows and the younger did the corn. When the older brother started to have health problems and the cows were getting too much for him, he was ready to retire. But the younger brother, who had the less stressful side of the business, yet was still getting ˝ the income under the father's terms, was perfectly content and refused his brothers request to sell the farm. Hilton and Betty ran a little resort with a few run down cabins on the White Fish chain. They died and willed the property to their 9 adult grandchildren. While the buildings were in disrepair, the land was very valuable, yet could not be divided 9 ways. Three wanted to sell, three wanted to keep it, and three were indifferent. For about 10 years now they each have to pay $4,000 a year in property taxes and they cannot agree to sell or improve it. And they still argue about dividing up time to spend on the property. Joe died and left his land holdings to various family members. There was so much disagreement that it was in probate court for 15 years! The lawyers got a lot of money, which probably wasn't what Joe intended. Sam, An 80 year old gentleman lists a vacant lot with Land For Sale, Inc. He had inherited the land 20 years ago from his father, was named executer of the estate and paid the property taxes out of his own pocket for 20 years. Once an offer was accepted the buyer did a title search. Turns out that Sam's father had left the land to Sam and his 5 siblings. And two sisters had since died. In order to sell the lot, the estates of the two dead sisters had to go to probate court, where the remaining siblings, all in their 70s and 80s were yelling and screaming at each other. The value of the real estate to divide up amongst the family members? $75,000. Some families never get past "Johnny got a bigger piece of cake than Susie". Unlike land, its very easy to divide cash fairly amongst your kids. Consult an estate planning attorney about your situation. What happens if I get sick and I can't afford medical care? Often people are land rich and cash poor. But recent changes to Medicaid make this an even tougher situation. If you have more than $500,000 in home equity, (and up to $750,000 in some states) you can't qualify for medicaid coverage. In the past , people would often transfer their property to their kids to get around this. No more. Now the government looks back 5 years and "undoes" the transfer. And then they won't grant you government assistance for your medical bills until 5 years after you apply. And, if somehow you do qualify for medical assistance and you own property, after you die the government can seize your property to recoup the costs for your medical care. Consult an elder law attorney for specifics on your situation. If you sell your property you can:
Should I leave my land to my kids? •
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