I am questioning the advice to consult an accountant or CPA.
There are no "experts" in this public user-to-user forum. Even those with a "CPA", a "TurboTax" or "expert" tax after their screen name can be questionable. This is a "PUBLIC" forum and nothing is to be taken as a gospel truth. I can tell you that I"m a world-renowned tax expert. But I can't prove it in this forum.
When you take advice from this (or any) public forum, you do so at your own risk. If it's wrong advice that ends up costing you money later, you have no recourse and nobody to hold liable for culpable for the incorrect information you were provided.
When you pay an attorney or CPA, if they mess up you have someone that you can hold legally liable and financially culpable for the information they provide you. Your situation has a complexity about it that, while the TurboTax program can handle it, the generality of your questions asking for help are a clear indication that the depth of those complexities are not understood. They "need" to be understood. Therefore professional help is in your best interest..... not mine. YOu want a CPA with the heart of a teacher that is willing to sit down with you and educate you. You don't want one with the heart of a banker that is only interested in how much money they can suck out of your bank account.
Laws differ state to state, sometimes vastly. Those differing state laws do have a direct effect on which federal laws apply to a given situation too. One big and easy example is if you live in a community property state.
If you live in a community property state, then when one spouse passes the other spouse gets a step-up in cost basis on the entire value of property owned by both partners. But if you do not live in a community property state, then the surviving spouse only gets a step-up in basis on 50% of what was jointly owned by the couple. That's just the simple example.
Please, for the sake of your heirs and *YOUR* bank account, seek professional help this year for reporting your real estate purchases and sales.
