In this short instructional video, Jerry Taylor narrates a real‑life estate‑planning scenario. An elderly mother, who bought her house 30 years ago, transferred the title to her three adult children five years ago. She later requires long‑term care and applies for Medicaid. Jerry explains that because the transfer occurred more than five years ago, the home is exempt from Medicaid’s asset‑look‑back and will not be seized. However, the children now wish to sell the house and will face capital‑gains tax on the appreciation that accrued over the 30‑plus years, because the gift gave them the mother’s original cost basis. Had the mother passed the house to them through a will or a trust, they would have received a stepped‑up basis equal to the fair‑market value at her death, resulting in little or no capital‑gains tax. The video’s purpose is to warn viewers about the tax consequences of gifting property versus bequeathing it, and to encourage proper estate‑planning to avoid unexpected tax liabilities.
Chapters
More from Jerry
comment workshop.free still need plan to keep people out of court. learn how to in less than an hour
