Combining households with my 67 year old neighbor

[Cole Soreano]

Backstory- My family and I live next to a widow who lost her husband almost four years ago, we reside in central WA. She has no children and her only nearby family is a cousin who lives in town. Over the past two years we have befriended her and to be honest she has become more like family. Recently she changed her will and named us as personal representatives and is leaving us her property when she passes(crazy I know). Essentially she wanted something in place in case something happens to her in the short term. Moving forward we are exploring possibly combing households due to the large size of the property and the difficulty of upkeep but there are several questions/ issues that need to be addressed so it does not put either of us in a compromised position.

When her husband died a friend paid off her mortgage due to it going into foreclosure ( 210k total). Currently she is on gov. assistance

I know I am going to need to speak with a lawyer on this but my question is, is there a way to avoid tax implications if we do combine households, due the substantial amount of equity that is in the property.

Any ideas or input would be welcomed.

[Kerry Noble Jr]

the friend paid the mortgage off.....so does the friend have first lien holder position now? 

sidenote: would love to have friends like that

[Ryan Thomson]

@Cole Soreano I would talk with an accountant/lawyer! My understanding is if you inherit a property you get a step up in cost basis. 

[Cole Soreano]

@Kerry Noble Jr Yes friend paid the mortgage off and is in first position. Our neighbor has no monthly payment on it or interest accrued