Parents, either to help their children out or to reduce the taxable value of their estate, sometimes weigh transferring ownership of their home to their children. But what may seem like a great idea often isn't.
父母或为了助子女一臂之力，或为了减少他们房产应缴的税款，有时会考虑把房产过户给他们的孩子。可是一个看似绝妙的主意往往并非如此。For starters, parents often don't realize the security they're giving up, especially if they plan to continue living in the home. If your child were to get divorced, the ex-spouse could have a legitimate claim on the home. Creditors can come after the home if your child defaults on a loan. Your child could sell the property without your permission.
首先，父母们常常没有意识到他们放弃的是安全保障，尤其是他们打算继续在这房子里生活的话。如果你的孩子要离婚，其前配偶对这套房产就会拥有合法主张的权利。如果你的孩子拖欠贷款，债权人可以接管房产。你的孩子可能未经你的许可就卖掉这份财产。'There are few worse things in life then getting evicted by your kids,' says John Collins, a principal at the wealth-management firm Aspiriant.
“生活中没有什么比被孩子赶出家门更糟糕的事情了，”财富管理公司Aspiriant的负责人约翰·科林斯(John Collins)说。
What follows are issues to consider, and, in those rare cases where a transfer can make sense, how to do it the right way.
以下是需要考虑的问题，以及在极少数有理由过户的情况下，如何正确进行过户操作。Qualifying for Medicaid
获取纳入医疗补助计划(Medicaid)的资格Many parents think transferring a home to one's children will help them qualify for Medicaid's long-term-care benefits.
很多家长认为把房产过户给孩子，会帮助他们获得享受医疗补助计划中的长期医保福利的资格。But in most cases, it won't. When an applicant gives away property within five years of applying for Medicaid coverage of long-term-care benefits, Medicaid presumes that the gift was made to qualify for Medicaid. This triggers a period of ineligibility on the theory that the property could have been used to pay for the individual's care, says Katherine Dean, managing director of wealth planning at Wells Fargo Private Bank in San Francisco.
然而在多数情况下这种资格都是得不到的。如果申请人是在把房产过户给孩子后的五年之内向医疗补助署(Medicaid)申请长期医保福利，医疗补助署会认为做出赠予行为是为了获取纳入医疗补助计划的资格。旧金山富国银行私人银行(Wells Fargo Private Bank)的财富规划总经理凯瑟琳·迪安(Katherine Dean)说，这会导致一段时间内申请人不符合申请资格，理论依据是这份房产本来是可以用来支付个人医保的。In reality, the house may not have been counted in asset valuations anyway, says Ms. Dean. The five-year rule doesn't come into play, for example, if the applicant is transferring the property to his or her spouse or to a child who has been living in the house and providing necessary nursing care for at least two years.
迪安说，实际上，房子原本是可能不会计入资产估值的。比如，如果申请人把房产过户给一直住在这套房子里并至少提供了两年必要护理的配偶或孩子时，那条五年时间的规定就不管用了。Preserving Wealth
财产保值A home transfer is not advisable for wealth preservation or tax avoidance if the value of the parents' estate is within the limit allowed for exclusion by the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities. In a case where federal gift tax applies, the rate can be as high as 40%. There can also be state gift taxes.
如果父母的房产价值是在美国国内税务署(the Internal Revenue Service)或州税务机关允许的免税范围之内，为了财富保值或避税而过户房产是不可取的。在适用联邦赠与税的情形下，税率可能高达40%，而且可能还要缴纳州赠予税。The tax bite is likely to be far less if the home is part of a normal inheritance. The heirs will receive a step-up in the cost basis and be able to sell immediately with no impact on income or capital-gains tax, says Mr. Collins.
如果房子是正常遗产的一部分，税务负担很可能要低得多。科林斯说，继承人的支出基准将会上升，并可将房子立刻出售，这样做对收入所得税或资本利得税不产生任何影响。
Parents looking to downsize can sell and share the proceeds with the children. For a married couple, the first $500,000 in profit is free of capital-gains taxes, or the first $250,000 for a single taxpayer, says Mr. Collins.
希望少纳税的父母可以卖掉房产，并与孩子们分享收益。科林斯说，对于已婚夫妇来说，收益中的前50万美元（约合人民币311万元）是免缴资本利得税的，单身纳税人则是前25万美元（约合人民币156万元）免缴资本利得税。Giving a home also removes the option of a reverse mortgage, says Stuart Ritter, senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore. In a reverse mortgage, homeowners borrow against a home's equity and continue to live in the house with the understanding that the loan (and accumulated interest) will be paid off, in a lump sum, when the house is sold, or the borrowers move out or die.
巴尔的摩(Baltimore) T. Rowe Price公司的高级理财规划师斯图尔特·里特(Stuart Ritter)说，房子过户 也让人失去了反向抵押贷款的选择。在进行反向抵押贷款的时候，房主以住房产权作抵押进行借款，按照协议规定，借款人可以继续居住在房子里，但当住房出售、借款人搬走或去世时，贷款（及累计利息）要一次付清。Large Estates and Trusts
大地产及信托资产In cases where transferring ownership would reduce the parental estate to a level where no estate tax is owed, it can be a good idea. It may be the way to preserve the most assets for the children, even if they later decide to sell and owe taxes then.
如果过户可以将父母的房产降低到不用纳遗产税的程度，那可能是个好主意。那是为孩子保留大部分资产的办法，哪怕他们后来决定将其出售，然后去纳税。If the parents want to transfer ownership but continue to live in the house, additional legal steps are recommended. One option is to set up a 'life estate' in which the parent would pay 'fair market' rent to the child, says Sal Salvo, principal of Summit Financial Resources in Parsippany, N.J. If rent isn't paid, the parent is considered to have a 'retained interest' in the house, in which case the IRS could treat the transfer as if it never occurred and decide that the house is includable for estate-tax purposes. Legal assistance is advised when setting up this kind of arrangement, says Mr. Salvo.
如果父母想将房产过户，但要继续住在那套房子里，建议采取额外的法律措施。一种选择是确立“终身财产权”(life estate)，在这种安排下，家长会付给子女“公平市场”的房租，新泽西州帕西帕尼(Parsippany, N.J.)顶级财政资源公司(Summit Financial Resources)的负责人萨尔·萨尔沃(Sal Salvo)说。如果未付房租，家长就会被认为在家中拥有“保留利益”。萨尔沃说，在这种情况下，美国国内税务署就会视过户未曾发生，判定该房产应纳入遗产税征收范围。建议在进行这类安排时寻求法律帮助。Another option, a qualified-personal-residence trust, allows parents to transfer their residence to their children -- through the trust -- at a substantially reduced estate and gift-tax cost. It also allows the parents to stay in the home for a predetermined period they set themselves.
另一种选择是办理合格个人住宅信托(qualified-personal-residence trust)，它允许父母以信托的方式将住房过户给子女——这能大幅降低地遗产税和赠予税成本通过。它也允许父母按自己预先设定的时间期限住在这套房子里。In this type of arrangement, if the parents live on the premises, it greatly reduces the gift tax, which is imposed at the time of the transfer. Depending on how long the parents plan to stay, the taxable value of the gift can be as little as 25% of the current fair market value of the home. All appreciation in the value of the home after the initial transfer also becomes tax-free for both the trust and the children.
在这种安排下，如果家长住在房子里，过户时征收的赠予税可以大大减少，根据父母计划在此房产里居住时间的长短，赠予房产的计税价格可以低至该住房当前公平市价的25%。房产过户之后的一切增值对于受托人和子女来说也都是免税的。Parents with large estates also can give or sell their home to a 'defective grantor trust,' says Mr. Collins. The value of the home for tax purposes is frozen, and any further appreciation during the parents' life happens outside of their estate. Any income earned by the trust is taxable to the grantor. But by giving or selling the property to the trust, the grantor reduces the value of his or her estate immediately, and all appreciation in the property will be tax-free for trust beneficiaries.
科林斯说，拥有大房产的父母也可以将住房交给或出售给一家“不完全产权赠与信托”(defective grantor trust)。住房须纳税的那部分价值就会被冻结，父母在世期间房产的任何增值都与他们的房产无关。信托基金挣得的任何收入对授让人来说都是应税的，但通过将房产交予或出售给信托基金，授让人立刻降低了他或她的房产价值，而房产的所有增值部分对信托受益人来说将是免税的。Veronica Dagher
Veronica Dagher