Can our kids inherit our Villages Home?
 

Does anyone know if our under 55 yr old kids can inherit our home in The Villages and spend vacations there after we pass ?

They can definitely inherit the house. The age restriction only applies to residing in the house. As far as vacations, it depends on how long they reside in the house, and whether they comply with the under 55 residence exception rules, which are not consistently enforced or easy to understand. Apparently, not all residents need to be over 55.

Yes, they can inherit the house. Senior 55+ communities have a provision to allow for 20% of the population under the age of 55. Children under 18 cannot live here full-time but visits only.

Yes, but who decides whether or not you can be included in the 20 percent? Is this rule ever enforced?

I keep hearing about the 55 and over residency rules, but after we bought our resale home I soon realized it doesn't really matter.

First of all, the rules say that 20% of the residents can be under the senior age limit. So with a population of over 120,000, that means that 24,000 can be under the senior age limit. That is a LOT of people. Second, no one checked the age of the buyers and I'm sure there is absolutely no list anywhere of the "current" age of each home owner. Have you ever heard of prospective buyers being told that they can't buy a home because they are too young?

So with the very large numbers who are eligible under the 20% rule and the fact that no one actually knows the numbers of current resident ages, the theory that there is an age limit is all marketing and not reality. Just like our gates. But since most of us who bought here are seniors, this place is a Great place to live.

As big as TV is I find it would be impossible to monitor that 20%. Even if they did figure a way to monitor this 20% they would have a hard time throwing someone under 55 out if they're already living in TV.

I am not sure but they might be able to monitor ages via the resident ID cards.

Is the rule no one under 18 or is it no one under 19? I thought that I heard at one point that it was no one under 19 could live in TV.

Also, if people under the age of 55 live in TV, are they also using amenities (pickle ball courts, golf, rec centers, etc) other than family pools?

That's what I think, also, although I don't remember how buyers disclose birth dates. Maybe by having to show their Drivers' Licenses?

At least one person residing in the home must be 55+ - it is in the covenants. The 20% is to allow for spouses that may be left when the qualified 55+ resident passes away.

As far as age goes, you can check the Florida voting records for any given street to get a general feel for the age of people residing on that street. If the person isn't a registered voter in Florida then they won't appear on the list of course.

It has been some time since we bought and I don’t recall exactly what happened at the closing but I believe we may have had to show our driver’s license.

The only reason why the 55+ was investigated by me was because my spouse is under 55.

And there are title restrictions only allowing ownership by 55+ - I am sure that can be overcome as waivers are granted by he-who-must-not-be-named..

I would certainly check with Tv to get the official word though!

I would imagine that at least some of the early 20 somethings listed as residents in TV are college kids who live away at college during the school year but use their parents' address in TV as their permanent address.

your kids will inherit whatever you leave to them...make sure you have a Florida will though

can they live here....ya

but what difference does it make...the kids will most likely sell the joint anyway and use the cash for something they want

our kids will get whatever is left after we've enjoyed having the time of our lives

what they choose to do with it is up to them

an equally salient point is that even if you leave the kids the house they will still have to pay the taxes on it's worth. This from a tax expert(cpa). now I hope they are wrong, but it doesn't sound like a good thing.

Do you mean property taxes if they choose to keep the property? Or is there some kind of inheritance tax on the property?

Our kids aren't anywhere near 55 so I don't see them wanting to keep a house in an over 55 community if something were to happen to me and their dad. But I also don't see them wanting to deal with the taxes, maintenance and upkeep on the fairly large house that we have now - our current house is in a regular suburban Florida neighborhood and we are seriously thinking of downsizing to TV. Hopefully, my husband and I will be around for a long time but we've seen from friends/family that that is not always a given. Rather than deal with the logistics of it all during a crisis, I'd prefer to simplify things while we're still young, reasonably healthy and can think through it all together. Our kids are still college age and their focus in the coming years will need to be on working hard and getting started out in life. If they want to come live near us or even with us for a time, fine, but they won't have to worry about us in TV.

Your kids can inherit it, but will most likely sell it. Young folks don't want to live with us old timers.

As I mentioned earlier, the covenants state the rules. Which could be amended.

We purchased our home from a gentleman who inherited it when his dad passed here in TV and he designated as the trustee for the property.

He was not eligible to live in TV because he was only 50. He did not fight it with TV, he just put it on the market.

As far as taxes, he got hammered because homestead exemption went away and he was stuck with the entire tax bill. But it comes out at closing and is paid then, so nothing out of pocket for him.

I don't know the right answer when it comes to preparation. When I lost my parents, we had already moved them into an independent living place and they could do what they wanted. We liquidated all the real estate and I took ownership of the remaining car, so all I had to deal with at the end was working the trust without real property.

From conversations with others, if there is any way to ensure that all your assets are liquid, it is much easier to deal with in estate. Another thing as well is to move liquid assets into accounts that would not be part of the estate.

Sobering stuff, but in short, a good estate attorney can help you protect your beneficiaries from a massive tax hit when you go to enjoy the pleasures of the afterlife :)

If the adult child(ren) inherit the property and they already live in Florida would they still lose the homestead exemption?

Yes.
To get the homestead exemption, you have to actually live in the house on January 1.
So you can only homestead one property.

I always wondered how this isn't age discrimination which is one of the protected classes. Imagine a community opening up and saying only people under 55 can live here.

Because the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA) allows 55+ communities to exist.

Since it is important I think I would write to the HOA and tell them what you want to do and ask for an answer in writing that you can put with your estate papers.
As far as inheriting, the answer is yes.
A number of homes are being rented. I assume not all have a renter over 55. If nothing else they might be able to rent to them selves.

The establishment of over 55 communities dates back to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (FHA) which, among other things, sought to prohibit discrimination in housing based on race, gender, religion, or age.

What HOA?

The Federal law prohibiting age discrimination only covers people over 40.

The rule in Florida is an over 55 community must have at least 80% of the "units" (not people) be occupied by at least one person over 55 or older. Thus one spouse being 55 and the other being 50 as example qualifies as part of the 80%. The remaining 20% of "units" can be any age as long as no resident is under 19 years of age in either category. I can't imagine TV is anywhere near close to 80/20. Thus no reason your children can't inherit your house as long as they obey the 19 year old rule.

At the sake of trying be concise (and not doing too much research), I believe the Federal Standard say that to be a 55+ community, at least 80% of the units must have one resident 55 or older and that requirement is not tied to ownership.

As to over under 19, that is an internal deed restriction imposed by the developer who is responsible for its enforcement and is not a part of Federal or Florida code. Specifically, no one under the age of 19 may spend more than 30 calendar days living in TV. Within the "rules" there are other age related restriction such as no one under 30 at adult pools et al.

FWIW

In 1999 the United States Department of Urban Development published the FEDERAL Regulations implementing the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995. HOPA states that the minimum standard to obtain housing for persons who are 55 years of age or older status is that “at least 80%” of the occupied units be occupied by persons 55 years or older. There is no requirement that the remaining 20% of the occupied units be occupied by persons under the age of 55, nor is there a requirement that those units be used only for persons where at least one member of the household is 55 years of age or older. Communities may decline to permit any persons under the age of 55, may require that 100% of the units have at least one occupant who is 55 years of age or older, may permit up to 20% of the occupied units to be occupied by persons who are younger than 55 years of age, or set whatever requirements they wish, as long as “at least 80%” of the occupied units are occupied by one person 55 years of age or older, and so long as such requirements are not inconsistent with the overall intent to be housing for older persons. Started by the Feds, not by The Villages, not by the State of Florida.

What's with the hammered and massive tax statements?
 

Reads like alot of hyperbole! Descriptions of florida estate and inheritance taxes in the link below would indicate that he got quite alot of inheritance, which he had to pay if over $11M

When Are Beneficiaries in Florida Liable for Inheritance Tax | DeLoach, Hofstra & Cavonis, P.A.

Where do these massive tax hits come from which you stated? In florida there is very little estate tax, but the inheritor must pay the property taxes after ownership is transferred. That should not be considered massive unless, their was a large financial inequality such that the inheritor couldn't afford the property taxes on his/her income.

That would seem massive but not really be massive. Sounds more like wanting to display expected perceptions about taxes to avoid any appearance of a large inheritance, after getting a very large inheritance, if the truth were known.

sportsguy

You really think there is age restriction in villages?

We have two kids in their mid-30s, one in Colorado and one in Ohio. I expect they'll sell the house and split the proceeds. :thumbup:

Sure they’ll owe property taxes for the time the kids own the property but the cost basis of inherited property is the value of the home at the time the property is inherited. So if the property is sold within a short time, capital gains taxes would be minimal.

You are honest! It's what kids do!

Apparently the under 19 rule is not being enforced anymore either. We have a 6 person family across the street from us with 3 dogs , a cat, 3 cars including a 7 year old child that has been living there full time since November. We notified community standards months ago but nothing changes. They go to the pool all the time so they have to have a guest pass for the child which means they have to be lying about the address of the child

May allow it if its in their deed restrictions

I was referring to property tax only, homesteading, etc.. I know nothing of the inheritance, I only know that without the homestead exemption it was a couple thousand more.

May allow what?

We had an under 55 couple in our neighborhood. Nice folks.