Montreal,

My question is: Canadian-specific
QUESTION: My mother and I both live in Montreal Quebec. My father passed
away last fall. My mother owns and lives in a house in Montreal (her only
property)which was bought in the late fifties for around $17,ooo and is now
worth about $225,000. As my mother has leukemia, but is seemingly in no
imminent danger, she is wondering about giving the house to me now rather
than through a will as this would be one less complication at that time. Her
idea would be to give me title to the house while she would continue to live
there as long as she can and I would continue to live in my apartment, also
in the Montreal area. As the house would not be my principal residence at
this time are there any advantages to doing this now and what would be the
capital gains implications? If this is not a good move at this time what
would be the tax implications of inheriting the house through the will?
Thanks for your help.
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david ingram replies:
Put the house in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.  This will mean
that the house automatically becomes yours on the death of your mother and
you do not have to put the house through probate.
At the same time, to avoid capital gains tax on the half that now "looks"
like it is yours, sign another document wherein you agree that the house is
NOT half yours, that you will not pledge it as security, and that you will
not try and partition the property and sell your half.
If you are a married person or living in a married situation, you should
have your partner sign the agreement as well so that if there is a marital
split, your partner will not be able to claim part of your mother's house.
If you do that, your partner should seek independent legal advice and if
they will not sign it, you should just leave the house in mom's name until
her demise.
It will then be income tax free but may be subject to probate fees.
I do not know what the probate fees amount to in Quebec but you should be
able to ascertain that fairly easily.
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