The Law Offices of Brenton C. McWilliams

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The Law Offices of Brenton C. McWilliams An estate planning, wills, trusts and probate law firm. The Law Offices of Brenton C. At the Law Offices of Brenton C.

McWilliams is a law firm concentrating its legal practice on estate planning, wills and trusts, elder law and probate estate administration. With offices in Orange Beach, Foley and Daphne, the firm serves clients throughout Baldwin and Mobile Counties. Through the firm's virtual estate planning offering, the firms serves clients throughout Alabama. McWilliams, the best interest of the client comes first. Legal guidance is provided by an experienced attorney in a warm, hospitable atmosphere. The firm has glowing reviews from previous clients who describe the law firm staff as exceptionally friendly, professional and attentive to the needs of their clients. Brenton is described as a patient, down to earth person who is easy to talk to and has an ability to explain complicated legal concepts in a language that non-lawyers can understand. To find out more information, visit brentonmcwilliams.com. To schedule a consultation, please call (251) 215-9275.

The idea to carry out of today.Alabama does not have a state estate tax. Alabama does not have an inheritance tax either...
10/18/2026

The idea to carry out of today.

Alabama does not have a state estate tax. Alabama does not have an inheritance tax either.

I am not going to put the federal exclusion figure on the screen, because it moves and a number I gave you today could be wrong by the time you read this. What I will tell you is that for most of the families I sit down with here, looking at a paid off house and a retirement account, it is not the issue in the room.

So the reset gets traded away to avoid something that was very likely never coming.

Save this one. Tomorrow, the part for anybody who has already signed.

10/18/2026

Building on this morning, why do families do this?

Usually one of two reasons. Somebody told them it keeps the house out of probate, or somebody told them it keeps the house away from a death tax.

The probate goal is a fair goal, and there is more than one way to handle it.

The death tax part is where I want you to slow down with me.

Alabama does not have a state estate tax. Alabama does not have an inheritance tax either. And the federal estate tax carries an exclusion amount so large that the great majority of families I sit down with here are nowhere close to it.

That figure moves, so check the current one if it ever genuinely applies to you. But for most people looking at a paid off house and a retirement account, it is not the issue in the room.

Which means the deed often gets signed to head off a tax the family was very likely never going to owe, and along the way it may create a capital gains bill the family would not otherwise have had.

Tomorrow, what to do if you have already signed one.

10/18/2026

So that reset is worth real money to your family.

And this is the piece I promised you at the top, because it is the part most people have backwards.

The reset usually gets given away in exchange for a tax the family was never going to pay.

Here is the whole thing in one look, and this is the one to save.The gift version. Deed signed while you are living. You...
10/17/2026

Here is the whole thing in one look, and this is the one to save.

The gift version. Deed signed while you are living. Your basis travels with the house. They sell for five hundred thousand and the gain is measured from two hundred thousand.

The other version. Nothing signed. The house is still yours at death. The basis generally resets to date of death value. They sell near that figure and there may be very little gain to report at all.

Identical house. Identical children. Identical buyer at the closing table.

The only thing that moved was which document got signed, and when.

Save this one. Tomorrow, the reason most people sign in the first place, and why it usually does not hold up.

10/17/2026

Now, run the same family through it again.

Same house, bought for two hundred thousand, worth five hundred thousand on the day you pass away.

Your children receive it with a basis at that date of death value. If they sell it somewhere near that figure, there may be very little gain to report at all.

Two hundred thousand against five hundred thousand. Identical house, identical children, identical buyer.

The only thing that moved was which document got signed, and when.

And I will say this plainly, because it comes up in my office all the time. The difference in that one item can run well past what it costs to sit down and build a real plan in the first place.

Tomorrow, the third piece, and it is the part most people have backwards.

10/17/2026

If timing were the only thing that changed here, none of this would be worth a video. But timing is precisely what changes it.

When somebody dies owning property, federal tax law generally gives that property a new basis equal to what it was worth on the date of death.

The old purchase price stops doing any work.

Here is the gift version in one picture.Bought for two hundred thousand. Worth five hundred thousand. Deed signed while ...
10/16/2026

Here is the gift version in one picture.

Bought for two hundred thousand. Worth five hundred thousand. Deed signed while you are living.

The two hundred thousand goes with it. When they sell, the gain is measured from there, and three hundred thousand of it is on the table.

Nothing about the house changed. Nobody did anything careless. A deed moved ownership, and the number rode along with it.

Save this one. Tomorrow, the same house and the same family, with exactly one thing different.

10/16/2026

Run it forward a few years.

They sell for five hundred thousand.

The gain gets measured from two hundred thousand, not from five hundred. Three hundred thousand dollars of it is sitting on the table.

What comes out of that in actual tax depends on rates and on their individual circumstances, and both of those vary a great deal, so I am not going to put a dollar figure on it. Rates change, situations differ, and a number I gave you today would be wrong for somebody reading this.

The mechanism is the part worth carrying with you. The sale price was never really the question.

The question was which number the gain gets measured from.

Tomorrow, what happens to that same number if nothing gets signed at all.

10/16/2026

The IRS calls it basis, which is essentially what the house counts as having cost you for tax purposes. When the property sells, the gain gets measured against that number.

So go back to the two figures. You paid two hundred thousand dollars, and that is roughly your basis.

You sign a deed today putting your children on it as a gift. Under federal tax law, a gift generally hands the recipient whatever basis the giver had.

So your two hundred thousand dollar number does not stay behind with you.

It travels.

The line from today worth writing down:A house carries something besides ownership, and it does not appear anywhere on t...
10/15/2026

The line from today worth writing down:

A house carries something besides ownership, and it does not appear anywhere on that deed.

The IRS calls it basis. It is essentially what the house counts as having cost you for tax purposes, and when the property sells, the gain gets measured against that number.

You will not find it on the deed. You will not find it on the tax assessor's page. It does not move when the market moves. It is quietly attached to the house, and it decides how much of the sale price your family keeps.

Save this one. Tomorrow, what happens to that number when a deed gets signed while you are living.

Address

25814 Canal Road, Ste #5
Orange Beach, AL
36561

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12512159275

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