My father passed away last month in Florida and left his estate to me and my older sister. The estate is simple - his house (paid off 20 years ago), some household possessions, and a couple of bank accounts with balances of less than a few thousand dollars each. He had no creditors, and there will be no claims against the estate, so probate should be fairly straightforward and simple. The will is simple and specifies "share and share alike" between myself and my sister, which I interpret to mean 50/50 split (probably one reason she won't talk to me now!).
I have no intention of wanting to keep the house, and since my sister doesn't live in Florida, I assume she won't either, so it will end up being sold at some point and is worth roughly $350k.
So I have several questions, if people don't mind helping...
Given the small size of the estate (and the fact I will end up with just under $180k), am I going to have to pay inheritance tax?
I'm confused on the capital gains issue - my understanding from what I've read is that I would only pay capital gains if the house apreciates in value between the time of my father's death and the point at which it is sold. Is my understanding correct?
What are the chances I could obtain an inheritance advance loan, and what do those typically cost? I haven't been able to find much out there on it. The only reason I'm considering this is that my sister may not be in a hurry to sell the house, and frankly I want all of this to be over with.
Thanks alot for your help, everyone.