@nbhousenb
With a life estate, you inherit the house with a fully stepped-up basis equal to the fair market value on the date he died. (Everything that happened before is ignored). However, it would still be wise to see an attorney or tax professional. To be valid, the deed would have been recorded in the county clerk's office, even if you never got a copy. You need someone to look at that deed and make sure it really says life estate. A life estate can also be implied based on the circumstances even if not written down, but if it wasn't written down, you will want to thoroughly document the circumstances in case you are later audited. If the deed wasn't recorded with the county, that is also something that will need to be fixed before you can sell it.
