selling coop father passed away

[Lily Ochoa]

Good Morning any advice on how to go about selling coop 2021 I was able to transfer coop to my name : dad (co owner) passed away 2023 and uncle owner of unit (cancer) legal transfer shares to me. Now I need to sell coop not sure is it considered an inheritance I do not live there my nieces are residing they would like to move out and sell coop to get their share have to them and my sister as well. How can safely do this to avoid capital gains on unit. At least be able to have fees taken once unit is sold since party asking to sell will not pay me anything when I do my taxes. Presently a coop unit similar to unit I have sold for 480k no pending mort on unit. 

[Bill B.]

It depends on what happened when your father passed. If some state/situations the basis would have reset. But that might not happen in NY, especially among non-spouses. The question is did your uncle become sole owner then or did someone inherit half with your uncle? Your uncle’s half wasn’t an inheritance and if he didn’t get a stepped up basis when you’d dad died you could owe capital gains in much/all of it. 

You really should have gotten a lawyer involved or at least an estate planner before he transferred the condo to you. He could have sold it out right and got at least $250k tax free as his primary, you can not. That transfer could easily have been a $50k mistake. 

Anyway. You’ll need an expert to find out if your uncle got a stepped up basis, if someone inherited half of the condo or if your uncle got it all. That will tell you how much tax you’re going to owe. The only good news about your uncle owning it all and not being dead (besides not being dead) is I think you’ll avoid probate court. If on the other hand you inherited half you avoid 1/2 the taxes but none of you probably own it until you go through probate. Unless your dad had a trust set up.