The first part of understanding the tax responsibility when you plan on passing your family vacation home to adult children who live out of state is to understand the definition of “basis” and “step-up in basis.” These terms refer to income taxes and are used to determine any gains or losses on the sale of the property.
When you die, property that you own or control is valued as of the date of death. The children who inherit the property take it with that value as their basis. The first thing is to determine the parent’s basis in the property. You should then look at how the basis of inherited property is handled. Generally, the basis of property inherited from a decedent is one of the following: