WHY ??? Adding another person to my title $$$

[digger]

I purchased a mobile home 10 yrs ago with my friend . I only had it put in my name as it was going thru my bank account . Now , as we are getting old , I wished to have my friends name added to the title in case I were to die . My friend has paid half the costs since day one and it is now paid off and the bank has signed off . Upon going to the Secretary States office to add the name along with mine , I was told that my friend will have to pay half of the sales tax . I don't understand , we have already paid for all of this and I'm not looking to sale it , just to add their name . Can anyone explain this to me ? I can understand if I were to sale this to my friend but this is not what I'm doing .

[rmurray]

I assume you explained all of this to the clerk in the government office..I would call it a gift to your friend..That might trigger a different set of rules...The state will do all they can to collect all they can...You could give your friend the title and a power of attorney to transfer it..Or you could do a simple will outlining your wishes..

[digger]

Thanks for your reply . No , I was in total shock when she said that at the Secretary States office . First of all , I don't know what the sales tax is and how I'd find out . Second , I wasn't going to sale it . I just said "ok" and left . I'm now trying to figure out what to do about it as we are both on Social Security and money is tight enough , hense why we have shared this expense of living quarters .

[rmurray]

Let us know which state you are in...Maybe someone here will know the procedure in your state..

[digger]

Thank you again for your reply . We live in Michigan . We had just got off the phone with the Secretary of States office . We called and explained our situation to them and they told us that if we have proof that my friend paid half , that would be what they need . We don't have proof of this as it was paid out of my account . We had paid it off in full about 5 yrs ago . I really don't understand how to come up with what the sales tax is . Are they talking about the sales tax we paid at the purchase or what the value is now ?

[digger]

We just located all our original paperwork from when we purchased this mobile home . I was living with him at his house on 08-18-1995 at the time of purchase and our paperwork here reflects my name with his old address before our move . He left his place to his son and we moved here . The sales tax on these papers here show $900 at the signing of the loan . Is this what they are talkin about ? And if so , I would have to show proof of him paying half of that ?

[digger]

One other thing I forgot to say . The $900 sales tax that was due at the time we bought the mobile home was included in the loan payable as the loan was paid off . This is why we don't have reciepts of paid tax .

[rmurray]

No they would be talking about the tax on the value today...Tell them the sales price is $100....That would be a tax of only a few bucks...Good Luck...They may take your tax value as a value to calculate this tax..If so it should be low..

[digger]

Couldn't get them to make any sense to me again at the Secretary of States . They told me I would have to sign the title into his name along with my selling price of market value , pay the taxes on that selling price and that the title would then come back in his name . This is not what we wanted so I looked into the other options you stated and decided to do a will stating "upon my death" and have it notarized . Seems you were SOooo right about the state wanting everything they can get . lol ! I want to thank you so much for helping us AND saving us $$$ !!!!!!

[Sylvia]

Sell him half of the home for $1.00. It's done all the time to avoid the taxes here in Iowa. There is no law that says you can't sell what is yours for whatever a willing person is willing and able to pay.