Estate sale of home

[tracyb]

Am needing some guidance on the sale of a home that was part of an estate. Mother died in 2005. The will has been probated but the property was all still in the estates name until
2012 when a property was transferred into one of the executors name in order to get equity for loan to pay taxes. A few months later, the property was sold for a gain to the estate.
However, the executor did not get a 1099 but since the transaction was in his name, most likely it will be reported to IRS in his name.

What are your thoughts on how to handle this? The attorney says since it was still part of the estate, and he did not have ability to personally take and spend the $, the estate return should be filed.
However I'm concerned about the proceeds being dispersed to the taxpayer individually and being reported as such.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[Burke]

Am needing some guidance on the sale of a home that was part of an estate. Mother died in 2005. The will has been probated but the property was all still in the estates name until
2012 when a property was transferred into one of the executors name in order to get equity for loan to pay taxes. A few months later, the property was sold for a gain to the estate.
However, the executor did not get a 1099 but since the transaction was in his name, most likely it will be reported to IRS in his name.

What are your thoughts on how to handle this? The attorney says since it was still part of the estate, and he did not have ability to personally take and spend the $, the estate return should be filed.
However I'm concerned about the proceeds being dispersed to the taxpayer individually and being reported as such.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

The lawyer is correct in that it still should have been part of the estate, but it was dumb to transfer it into the executors personal name. He had a fiduciary responsibility to handle the sale as provided in the will and disperse the proceeds to the heirs if the estate was still open. (I do not see what difference it would have made to the bank that it was in the name of the estate. Executors do this all the time without transferring the property into their name.)

Since the death was so long ago, the bank probably assumed the estate was closed. And it probably was. The home should have been transferred into all the heirs names, not the executor (who may or may not be an heir.) Legally, ownership of the real estate passed to the heirs at the mother's death if it was in her name. It's just that no one got around to changing the deed. The sale should have been reported under all their SSN's, not his. He will have to deal with it when the 1099-S comes in, if one is produced. If it is in his SSN, then he needs to nominee it out to the heirs according to their share on Sche D. Check with the closing attorney or authority listed on the HUD-1 as to whether a 1099-S was sent to the IRS.