My sister and I own 2.6 acres on Kauai. It has two houses on it.
Legally it is all in my sister's name but de facto we are equal
partners. We are planning to CPR (Condominium Property Regime), which
is a legal way to subdivide agriculturally zoned property in Hawaii,
so we can sell off a large portion with a solid redwood house on it.
After this is completed, at the appropriate time, whenever that is,
the remaining part of the property will be transferred entirely to my
name and I will own the leftover portion entirely. We don't know
whether it would be better to do a quitclaim deed from my sister to me
for half the property now so the results of the CPR sale will be
'diluted' between the two of us, or wait until the CPR process is
completed. We don't want to quitclaim to me ALL the property interest
now because then my sister wouldn't be able to deduct expenses and
other deductions to defer some
of the capital gains (the property was quitclaimed to her from our
mother.) If I get part-ownership (via quitclaim) expedited and
recorded before December 31st, I could get a property tax homeowner's
exemption next year. We also don't know whether a quitclaim would
affect the process of the CPR. After our debts are paid off we are
going to split the net cash. My part might be as much as $200,000 or
more. What's the best way of getting the cash to me without penalties
such as gift tax or whatever? And should I try to rush and get that
half-owner quitclaim deed processed? Thanks a million to anyone who
can help me with this.

Aloha, :D