Dear Mr. Premack: My mother has a Will which says that upon her death everything goes to my sister, who lives with her and is her caregiver, since our mother is legally blind. My brother and I have no objections on this. What is the simplest and cheapest way for the house to pass to our sister so there won't be any problems when mother passes on? She is 90 years old and aside from not being able to see she is in fairly good health. – CA

Your mother has already taken the most fundamental step by creating a Will that declares her intentions. When your mother dies, the Will can be offered for probate. There are two possible processes:

1. If there are no debts, your sister can ask the court to issue an Order probating the Will as a Muniment of Title. The Order recognizes the Will’s validity and informs the community that your sister is owner of the house. When recorded in the real property records at the courthouse, the Order and the Will together are just like a deed giving her ownership.
2. If there are debts, the person named as Executor in your mother’s Will can ask the probate court for "letters testamentary". Once the debts are settled, the Executor can sign and record a deed conveying the house into your sister’s name.

Probate accomplishes your mother’s goal, but it does involve some process, time and expense. Since you want the "simplest and cheapest way", your mother can take some other steps (beyond having a Will) to change title to the house.

The first option to explore is gifting the house to your sister right now. It is simple, but it is not necessarily cheap because your mother’s school tax freeze will be lifted and there will be no 65+ exemption on local property taxes (unless your sister is 65+). She will also have to deal with federal gift taxes, and she will lose control over the house. I do not recommend an outright gift.

Second, your mother could sign a deed in which she retains a life estate, granting your sister a remainder interest in the house. This has several advantages: it maintains the home as your mother’s homestead so she has control over occupancy, maintains the local property tax status and avoids gift taxes. It passes full, unrestricted title to your sister at the moment of your mother’s death but does not go before a Judge for probate.

Life estate has a few disadvantages as well. Your mother will no longer be able to use the house as collateral for a loan (unless your sister joins her). Your mother cannot sell the house unless your sister agrees. Also, if your mother ever goes into a nursing home and needs Medicaid assistance she will face a transfer penalty for the value of the remainder interest gifted to your sister.

She may feel that the potential negatives are outweighed by the positives. It is a judgment call to be made by your mother. She may decide that keeping the house until she dies provides her the most control and security, and that "cheap and simple" aren’t as attractive when balanced against control and security. Either way, she needs to discuss this privately with a qualified Elder Law attorney.