Date of acquisition

[Mark Goldberg]

My client was given a house by her Mom in 1997 with a life estate attached.
Her mom died in 2005. Is the date of acquisition 1997 or 2005?

[veritas]

The property for tax purposes is inherited. The basis is at time of death less any depreciation if any taken by your client.

[jainen]

life estate tenant

You say the life estate was "attached" rather than retained. If the mother was the life estate tenant, it is as veritas says. If somebody other than the donor was the life estate tenant, it's a gift dating back to 1997.

[OldJack]

The property for tax purposes is inherited. The basis is at time of death less any depreciation if any taken by your client.

I believe that when mom died so did her tax attributes (including depreciation allowed or allowable) with the house and the inherited basis is fair market value at date of death.