It appears he wholesaled a property that someone had forged ownership on. 

That isn’t the easiest / safest first foray into real estate ownership.

Regarding tax basis, is it more beneficial to gain full ownership upon her death from being a joint owner, or gain it through inheritance if she was the sole owner on the deed? 

With a diverse background that spans over 14 years in business ownership, sales, marketing, media, and business development, I'm eager to bring my skills and experience into the BiggerPockets community.Before diving into real estate, I spent 16 years in IT with the federal government, and I'm also a proud Air Force wartime veteran.

Your list is more about the 3rd party vendors absolutely needed but who in my own are outside the core ownership team.

The first thing I would ask is how much assets under ownership they have.

Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊

@Christopher Winkler I live in the SF Bay Area so I have had a great run of appreciation over the past 13 years of ownership, almost 3x to be exact.

So is the common problem of ownership.

Can the LLC transfer the 1031/DST to the partners in their names as part of the LLC close-out Distribution without triggering any bad things such as income tax or invalid ownership of 1031/DST?