A client recently came into my Manhattan office with what he thought was a simple request. “I want to leave my house to my son,” he said. “Can’t I just add his name to the deed now and save everyone the trouble later?” It’s a logical question, and the impulse behind it is a good one—to make things easy for the next generation. In my experience, the simplest path in estate planning is often filled with the most costly—and irreversible—traps.
Simply adding a child’s name to your deed creates a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. It sounds efficient, but it triggers a host of unintended consequences. Suddenly, your home is exposed to your child’s financial life. If they face a lawsuit, divorce, or bankruptcy, your home could become a seizable asset. It also complicates your own financial flexibility. If you want to sell the house or take out a home equity loan, you now need your child’s signature. This is not stewardship. It is a loss of control.
The Problem with Simple Transfers
Beyond losing control, there are significant tax implications. When you give your home to your child during your lifetime, or add them to the deed, you also give them your original cost basis in the property. Let’s say you bought your home in Brooklyn decades ago for $100,000, and it’s now worth $1.5 million. If your child inherits the property after your death, they receive a “step-up” in basis to the fair market value at the time of your passing—$1.5 million. If they sell it immediately, their capital gains tax is zero.
But if you add them to the deed today, they inherit your old $100,000 basis. When they eventually sell the house for $1.5 million, they will face capital gains tax on the $1.4 million difference. This can result in a tax bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have been completely avoided with a more prudent plan.
This is the work of intentional planning—to foresee these contingencies and structure the transfer to protect both the asset and the family. It requires looking beyond the immediate goal toward the long-term consequences.
A Will Provides Instructions, But Not Privacy
The traditional method for transferring a home is a Last Will and Testament. A will is a foundational document—certainly better than no plan at all. In it, you can clearly state your intention for your son or daughter to inherit the family home. The instruction is legally binding.
A will, however, does not avoid probate. In New York, assets passed through a will must go through a court-supervised process in Surrogate’s Court. Your executor must file a petition, notify heirs, inventory assets, pay creditors, and get the court’s permission to formally transfer the deed. The entire process is governed by the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) Article 14. The process is public, can take months or more than a year, and involves legal fees that diminish the estate.
While a will ensures your wishes are known, it subjects your family to a slow, expensive, and public process. For many families I work with, avoiding this is a primary goal.
The Trust: A Private Framework for Your Legacy
For most of my clients, a Revocable Living Trust is the most effective and protective tool for transferring a home. It is a more deliberate approach, offering far more control and privacy than a will or a simple deed change.
We create a trust document and then retitle your home in the name of the trust. As the trustee, you retain complete control. You can sell the house, refinance it, or change the trust’s terms at any time. Nothing changes about your day-to-day life. The home is still yours in every meaningful way.
The key difference occurs upon your passing. Because the trust—not you—owns the home, the property is not part of your probate estate. Your designated successor trustee, often your child, can then take control and transfer the property according to the clear instructions you left in the trust document. There is no Surrogate’s Court involvement for that asset. The transfer is private, efficient, and can happen in weeks, not months or years.
A trust also allows you to build in contingencies. What if your child is not ready to manage a property? The trust can specify that the house be held for them until a certain age, or managed on their behalf by a fiduciary who has a legal duty to act in their best interest. This is stewardship—creating a plan that protects your legacy and your loved ones.
The right path depends on your family’s circumstances. The goal is not just to transfer a deed, but to pass on a piece of your family’s history with intention. That requires a plan built on a clear understanding of New York law and the tools available to you.
A good first step is often to simply understand how your property is currently titled. If you would like to discuss the best way to structure the transfer of your home, we can schedule a 30-minute review of your existing deed and estate plan to identify a more intentional path forward.
