Mom has a classic car in her name but doesn’t drive. The title was put in her name when dad passed away. She is now in assisted living. What is the best way to handle this asset? We will look to sell it in the next few years. Because of the 5 year look back, is it best to sign it over as a gift now to a child? She has enough finances to last about 5 years without having to sell the car.
Does she have more than 1 adult child? If so, it could become problematic if she gifted this car to 1 child and didn't make a provision for equity in the inheritances (if there's anything left). If your Mom is healthy but needs to be in AL, and she may well live to need more than 5 years of money to pay for her care. A lot will depend on what kind of classic car and if it's value will go up "in the next few years". What about the cost of storage, upkeep and insurance? Maybe sell it for her now and put the funds in a money market savings account that is making decent interest and is liquid.
Others on this forum use bogleheads.org to ask questions like yours.