Sibling Inheritance Buyout Calculator: Equity, Cash to Close, and Each Seller’s Tax

Guides › Settling an Estate

Updated July 31, 2026. Quick answer: a sibling buyout has four numbers, and most families only compute the first: the equity split. The others — the buyer’s cash to close, each seller’s taxable gain (their share of appreciation since the date-of-death value, not the whole check), and the buyer’s blended basis going forward — decide whether the deal is actually fair. Enter the four inputs; the calculator computes all of it, assuming equal shares.

What the outputs mean

Sellers rarely owe tax on the whole payment. Inherited property takes a stepped-up basis at the date-of-death value, so a sibling selling their share owes long-term capital gains only on appreciation SINCE the death — sold soon after at the appraisal value, the gain is usually near zero. The buyer’s basis is blended, not the purchase price: stepped-up value on the fraction they inherited plus what they paid for the fractions they bought. Most articles get this wrong, and it changes the buyer’s tax bill when they eventually sell. The full mechanics: the taxes, done right — and before any money moves, check whether a non-pro-rata distribution could do the same thing with no sale at all.