@Mike9241 wrote:
an important point. will he be returning to the home he owns? wait too long to sell and the hone sale exclusion will be lost or limited.
the rules to get the full exclusion are that it must be his primary residence (where he actually lives) and owns for any two out of five years before sale. a partial exclusion would likely be available if its sold and his occupancy during the 5 years before sale was less than 24 months (730 days). this could be justified based on his moving due to health reasons.
This is tricky.
If the father refuses to sell, and lives with you so that your home is his main home, and that arrangement lasts more than 3 years, he would lose his personal capital gains exclusion if he later sells the house, and pay more capital gains tax than if he sold the house in less than 3 years.
However, if he owns the house until he dies, then whomever inherits it will pay no (or very little) capital gains tax when the home is sold.
However again, if your father requires nursing home care, he could be forced to sell the home to pay for his medical care, and no one inherits anything except Uncle Sam.
I would very strongly recommend some elder law/financial planning. There are things that you and he should discuss, and some paperwork that should be prepared, to protect both of you from the legal consequences of caring for an aging parent.
