Thanks about the reminder for a gift tax return. Isn't the gift tax exclusion equal to the estate tax exclusion? I also posted my original post here on a Facebook group. A well known estate planning attorney responded:
"There are many reasons not to add a joint owner, so she probably got poor advice in that regard. However, the basis isn't one of them. The entire property will be included in her estate under Section 2040(a), https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/2040, so that he'll get a new basis."
