A house was bought by a couple in the 1950s. We’ll refer to them as Grandfather and Grandmother here. Grandfather died and that left only Grandmother on the title. Later Grandmother decided to add her son to the title so now the owners named on the title of the house are Grandmother and Father. Later still Grandmother moves to England and is never seen again.
Father marries Mother and the marriage lasts a few years and then Father leaves what has at this time become the family home but still at this point only Grandmother and Father are on the title of the house but neither of them lives there.
After years of legal battling in the year 1987Mother gets her name on the title due to many factors such as she’s lived there for decades and he never paid maintenance etc so now the title shows Grandmother, Father and Mother as the owners. Later on 1997Grandmother died and this leaves only Father and Mother on the title.
Some more years of legal battling and Mother became the sole name on the title in 2005.
Now Mother wants to sell this house that is worth €350,000 to Son for €100,000. And one last piece of the puzzle, Mother has been a legal resident in the United States for the last 17 years.
Q 1. What is the situation with the capital gains? Remember she lives in the USA. Can we say that this is the Mother’s primary residence and therefore exempt from CGT?
Q 2. Is it possible to transfer the house without using a Solicitor to keep costs down?
Q 3. Assuming 100% trust by Mother and Son what is the best way financially to make the sale between them. Can she put the son’s name on the title and then maybe remove her own later?
Father marries Mother and the marriage lasts a few years and then Father leaves what has at this time become the family home but still at this point only Grandmother and Father are on the title of the house but neither of them lives there.
After years of legal battling in the year 1987Mother gets her name on the title due to many factors such as she’s lived there for decades and he never paid maintenance etc so now the title shows Grandmother, Father and Mother as the owners. Later on 1997Grandmother died and this leaves only Father and Mother on the title.
Some more years of legal battling and Mother became the sole name on the title in 2005.
Now Mother wants to sell this house that is worth €350,000 to Son for €100,000. And one last piece of the puzzle, Mother has been a legal resident in the United States for the last 17 years.
Q 1. What is the situation with the capital gains? Remember she lives in the USA. Can we say that this is the Mother’s primary residence and therefore exempt from CGT?
Q 2. Is it possible to transfer the house without using a Solicitor to keep costs down?
Q 3. Assuming 100% trust by Mother and Son what is the best way financially to make the sale between them. Can she put the son’s name on the title and then maybe remove her own later?