Your adult child offers what sounds like a simple estate-planning solution: “Just put my name on the house now, and everything will be easier later.” It may avoid certain complications in some circumstances, but adding a child to a house deed isn’t the same as adding an emergency contact to a bank account. A deed represents legal ownership, and once another person’s name goes onto it, you may have transferred a valuable interest in what could be your largest retirement asset. The tax consequences can also look very different from simply leaving the house to your child after death. Before signing anything, understand what that seemingly harmless trip to the recorder’s office can actually change.
