Capital Gains After claiming a $250,000 Home Sale Tax Exemption

[Zachary Smith]

I have a client that bought a primary home for $100K in 1989 and the home is now worth $1 Mil.  They have divorced in that time period and own the house solely now.  They have put about $50K worth of improvements into it over time.  Is there a way to help them save on capital gains above and beyond the $250K Home Sale Tax Exemption?  Is there a way to do a 1031 exchange or something similar that they can do with the remainder of the net gains that they will see after the sale of the home?  Any ideas are appreciated and we will most certainly run those ideas by an attorney and or CPA before implementing.  Thank you!

[Dave Foster]

@Michael P., unfortunately the bimbo would have to meet the residency test as well.  Hopefully she can cook and is a good conversationalist because she'll be living there for two years :)