wills, real estate, corporations

[Earthmother]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but here goes. I live in WV. I have never legally owned anythng on paper, never paid taxes, etc. and I like it this way. Suddenly someone dies, and I find that I am going to inherit a large piece of farmland property once the estate is settled. However, many years ago this property was legally made into a corporation by the owner who is now deceased. I never completely understood the reason behind this. I have always been listed on paper as being the vice president of this corporation. The will states that I am to inherit all shares of the corporation. I assume this would include the land, corporate bank accounts, investments, anything with the corporation name on it? I cannot at this time find out exactly what it consists of. I cannot even afford to hire an attorney to investigate. And the estate attornys are taking FOREVER to get this finished. Over a year and $40,000.00 in lawyer fees so far. Luckily the executor and the "estate" is responsible for all of this until the estate is settled! The "corporation" such as it is, would have gone bankrupt shortly after the death of the "president" if it actually were a business, as there has been no money to run on since her death...

Now, recently, my husbands father has died and left yet ANOTHER large piece of property, in NY this time. I think it is zoned as either agricultural or residential. The taxes are OUTRAGEOUS. We have been wondering if it would be to our benifit to add this piece of property to the corporation? The idea being to then make all our family members "shareholders". Would this actually have any legal or tax benifits? Because I will soon be the only shareholder of this corporation, am I still considered as someone who owns nothing legally? Or do I own the entire corporation? Am I now automatically the "president", and if so, what now? I guess my biggest problem is that I know nothing about the legalities of corporations, what benefits, protections,or downfalls and problems this may have. If I had the money I would hire a layer to deal with this, but until the estate is settled there is nothing for nothing... Help me figure out what to do.

 

[divgradcurl]

I hate to say it, but you really need to find some way to talk with a local lawyer, who can review all of the facts and documents in your case and advise you accordingly. The type of corporation that was formed, it's current status, the way the property is owned, all of that is relevant to giving you the best possible advice. Corporations tend to complicate tax issues, not simplify them. You can't simply "add" a property to a corporation, because the corporation is a separate entity from the owners of the corporation, and there will be tax consequences associated with the transfer to the corporation.

This is all much too complicated to go into in this type of forum -- you really need competant, local advice from someone who can review all of the documents associated with this matter. If you can't afford to hire someone now, maybe a family member can loan you money, or maybe you can find someone to work on a contingency basis, who knows -- but you really need a lawyer.