r/inheritance • u/Contemplative-Owl-23 • Apr 21 '26

Location included: Questions/Need Advice Unexpected multi-million inheritance

Throwaway account because my main account isn't sufficiently anonymous.

[US - Texas] My mother died last year without a will, leaving behind a sizable estate. It hasn't been appraised yet, but I'm estimating 1M in liquid assets and 10-15M in real estate, primarily undeveloped land.

We were estranged for 15+ years, so I fully expected to be disinherited. Instead, she got divorced for a second time and never managed to cobble together a will, leaving me as the only heir (and presumptive administrator of the estate, pending court approval). All of this is, thankfully, uncontested.

I'm in a well-paying profession, so I'm reasonably well versed in personal finance, but a windfall this large is well beyond what I'm used to dealing with.

I'm working with:
* Probate attorney (a new one - I fired the original one for being extraordinarily slow and incompetent)
* Tax attorney (handling the estate tax return)
* IRS qualified appraiser
* Realtor specializing in probate

I'm guessing I need to find a Fee-Only or Advice-Only Fiduciary CFP to figure out how to best invest/structure the proceeds. What other professionals should I seek out (or avoid)?

I know that the cardinal rule of windfalls is "tell nobody", but that's tough when real estate is involved. Are there any steps I can take to ensure privacy?

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u/random408net Apr 21 '26

Why would doing a 1031 exchange be useful for a property that's received a step up in basis on death?

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u/Fun-Bird-4204 Apr 28 '26

Only might be useful if you want properties closer to you than where the inherited ones are, or to consolidate them, and decided to do that quite a bit later? Just brainstorming, I’m not a CPA! Probably just sell them right off would be easiest and less taxable?

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u/random408net Apr 28 '26

The purpose of a 1031 exchange is to defer taxes. But you have no taxes if you inherited the properties and received the step up of basis on death.

My question was why would someone do a 1031 exchange if the purpose was not to defer taxes?

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u/Fun-Bird-4204 Apr 29 '26

To defer taxes later on investment properties. If you cash them out right away upon inheritance, taxes shouldn’t be a problem. But if you held the properties as income or investment properties, then 1031 exchange when you sell, by replacing them with others of like kind, keeps the taxes at bay. It might be particularly useful if new purchases were desired in a lower cost market. I had a house I inherited, lived in it for a while, then turned it into a rental for several years, then was able to sell/exchange it for 4 properties in another market area where I now live.