Oh, all my girlfriends and I have set up our plan. We are all moving into a big house together. Only male allowed will be Jon Bon Jovi who will drop by and play and sing at our daily happy hours
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And hopefully heāll hang out with you all after the performance. 
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Can I live in a casita? Iām fun and helpful and a great baker but really need some of my own space.
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We might need a compound. Maybe a group of casitas in a circle with a central gathering spot for the daily happy hour.
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Lol, my groupās central gathering place has morphed from tennis courts to pickle ball and pool to hot tub. An emergency medical room is also probably not a bad idea.
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And community message chair too (topic in another thread)
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For sure a massage table with a masseuse you contract to come out once or twice a week!
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Nah, just demographics.
Plus, I think most posters here are women, soā¦
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I didnāt know that and is huge. Thank you.
I thought the cost basis was adjusted for those not in a community property state as well, although not fully, but only for half. Per AI summary (not yet verified):
āWhen a property owner dies, the cost basis of the property is āstepped up.ā This means the current value of the property becomes the basis . When a joint owner dies, half of the value of the property is stepped up.ā
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you are welcome
that is correct if the home is held in both names, such as ājoint tenancyā (most common) or ātenants in common with right of survivorshipā.
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Weāre in CA. Our house has appreciated over 5x of what we paid in 1998. Plan is to sell the house after the first spouse dies. (Probably him 
) The surviving spouse will then move into independent living at a MLC facility.
We have one picked out. Maybe we should put a deposit down because wait lists are long. My understanding is that you can decline an opening if youāre not ready, but are still on the list.
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Iām hours behind and you folks are adding lots of comments.
On the 500k/250k Capital Gains āthing,ā I asked my accountant how much money are we really talking about. Should I move to not āloseā money?
DH passed in January 2024, so I would need to sell by January 2026 to net the most.
BUT, I asked the accountant to forecast in real dollars how much we are talking about. At relatively current values, and my current income and investments, selling after 2 years (say February 2026) would cost approximately $35k (more).
I thought it was important to know if real dollars what we are looking at. Our house had tremendous appreciation and there was a stepped up value of 50% of the basis after DH died.
Moving to save $35k isnāt reason enough for me to move from a house I love and can manage. And, Iām sure it would cost me more than $35k to move, pay realtor fees, moving van, new startup costs, new furniture to fit the new space, etc.
Just wanted to point this out as it may be another way to look at the issue.
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Donāt forget, itās not just what you paid and sell at. I believe home improvements you made can be added to reduce the gain..if you havenāt yet done so.
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I think you are looking at this exactly right, not letting the tax tail wag the dog in this case. Itās a consideration but maybe shouldnāt be the main one.
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Yes, I gave the accountant all of the improvements we had done before he died and since. Iām continuing on adding to the list of home improvements!
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Agree. But, I think for some people the tax consideration might make a difference. But, I may be one who over focuses on tax efficiency. Probably not the best way to be.
And, yes, I failed to mention the 50% step up in basis at date of death.
Do all community property states allow a full step up in basis? Or does each community property state have different rules related to that?
Here is a good explanation of how this works.
Actually, I think I talked about whether I would want to still live in our house if ShawWife died first (or vice versa). In our case, ShawWife has had a lot of respiratory issues and has feared that she would die first. She went so far as to suggest someone she thought I should develop a relationship with if she died. [That woman is very nice and very bright and in some ways a good match was just diagnosed with ALS, so ShawWife will need to find someone else for me.]. Fortunately, I think she is doing better so who knows who will predecease whom. From a genetics standpoint, my father died about 8 years older than here and my mother died at almost 98 and her mother is 93 so who knows.
But, generally stats are on the side of the husband dying first.
In our case, the appreciation has probably been quite substantial. My guess is that it would be better to keep it until we are both gone and let the kids benefit from the step-up in basis.
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