Putting Your Home in a Life Estate

[lrothman]

My question involves estate proceedings in the state of: New York:
If you put your home in a life estate and later decide to sell the house, do you lose the capital gains exemption of $500,000?

[jk]

who is the life estate tenant and who is the remainderman?

[flyingron]

JK's questions are valid. You don't PUT a home into a life estate, you grant someone a life estate into a home (or you grant the ownership of a home subject to you retaining a life estate). The tax implications depend on who the parties are and just how it is carried out. Further, if you are the life estate tenant, you can't sell it (though you can in many cases rent the property). If you are the remainderman, you could sell the property (subject to the life estate) but the market for properties still subject to life estate is limited.