Real Property owned by a Revocable and Irrevocable Trust

[momona]

Taxpayer and spouse each made their individual trust and placed their then residence into their respective trusts. They moved out of that residence and let their son live there for free. The couple moved back to a former residence that they had rented out. The taxpayer died a few years later.

The house that the son lived in is about to go on the market and when I did the title search, I found that the owners are the two trusts and the city has indicated that it is aware that one of the taxpayers died. Technically it's a revocable and a irrevocable trust owning this piece of property.

I was initially going to report the sale for the surviving spouse only but now that I see who the title owners are, I realize that there are technically two owners. I have also been informed that the surviving spouse plans to fund the Irrevocable Trust with proceeds of the sale of the place.

I have not been able to find any guidelines but I am leaning towards declaring the sale for the spouse and for the irrevocable trust. Any guidance would be appreciated.

[momona]

Expounding here: is the issue more about how the title was held (tenants in common, joint tenancy) versus the fact that there are two separate trusts?

[Burke]

That could be an issue. Get the deed (don't rely on city property records) to determine how this property was owned. The attorney who prepared that deed may be the same one who set up the trusts. It may be advisable to have the client contact him/her.