Pay Dirt is Slate’s money advice column. Have a question? Send it to Kristin and Ilyce here . (It’s anonymous!)

Dear Pay Dirt,

My parents moved to a new house in a new state 30 years ago. For some reason, they put the house in my mom’s name only. I think it might have been to lower state estate taxes, but their state doesn’t currently have any estate taxes (and their estate is definitely lower than the $13.99 million federal limit for 2025). In the past 30 years, the house has appreciated considerably.

After thinking about this, I have concluded that they need to change the deed to include both of them. Is this the correct move? Here are the scenarios I’m playing out:

Scenario 1: Mom dies while owning the house. No issues, beneficiary (dad or kids) inherits the house at a

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