‘This seems absolutely insane’: Our children pay rent on our investment properties. Our lawyer says they should still buy us out.

‘This seems absolutely insane’: Our children pay rent on our investment properties. Our lawyer says they should still buy us out.Listen(7 min)Listen(7 min)We are writing a trust and have three homes.Home #1: We are halfway through a 15-year mortgage on it. Our adult child rents the home. After it’s paid off, or upon our death, we want to gift them the home, since they paid the mortgage. (The gifting might be delayed to delay the step-up in basis.)About the AuthorQuentin Fottrell is MarketWatch's Managing Editor-Advice Columns and The Moneyist columnist. You can follow him on Twitter @quantanamo.Copyright © 2025 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.