Millions of Americans each year inherit a home or other property from their loved ones. The bequests can require extra paperwork, but heirs also may qualify for special tax breaks.

Q: My father died in 1998, and my mom passed away last month. I am the executor of the estate. It will take several months for me to clean up mom’s home and get it ready to sell. When the property finally is sold, how will the profits be taxed?

A: I’m sorry about the recent loss of your mother.

When the last owner of a property dies, the value of the home is automatically “stepped up” for tax purposes to reflect its market value on the day of death. For example, if your parents purchased the home years ago for $30,000 but it was worth $250,000 when your mom passed away last month, you wouldn’t owe any taxes unless the eventual sale nets more than a $250,000 profit after paying for a sales commission, fix-up costs and other deductible expenses.

Should the sale indeed net more than $250,000, the overage probably would be taxed based on the 15 percent long-term capital-gains rate (assuming, of course, that you don’t move into the property yourself). But if the value of the property falls before it is sold, you may be eligible to claim a tax-saving loss.

If there are other heirs involved, the sale proceeds or losses can be divvied up accordingly and then claimed on each beneficiary’s individual tax return.

As the executor, you also will be responsible for ensuring that one last state and federal return is filed for your mother. A special federal estate return also must be filed if the total value of the estate tops $2 million (only about 1 percent of estates each year exceed the limit), and you also may have to prepare a second estate-tax return if you live in a state that requires such filings.

Talk to an accountant and attorney for details. Also get a free copy of Internal Revenue Service Publication No. 559, “Survivors, Executors, and Administrators” by visiting the agency’s Web site (www.irs.gov) or by calling the IRS toll-free at (800) 829-3676.

Q: The attorney general in our state recently filed a lawsuit against a mortgage company for “unethical practices.” I don’t know how the lawsuit will turn out, but it got me wondering: Is the attorney general actually part of the military, instead of the state government?

A: No. The term “attorney general” reflects the lawyer’s wide breadth of expertise, rather than any connection to the armed forces.

The first known use of the term is believed to have occurred in England in 1398, in a legal document filed by four lawyers on behalf of the Duke of Norfolk.

Q: I recently saw an ad that said American Express now is allowing its customers to put their monthly mortgage payments on their credit cards. How does the program work? Should I sign up for it?

A: The novel program, which was unveiled about two weeks ago, is believed to be the first plan that not only permits consumers to put their mortgage payments on plastic but also makes them eligible to earn annual cash-back awards or other perks for doing so.

Until now, most mortgage lenders wouldn’t accept credit-card payments from their loan customers because they didn’t want to pay card companies to process the transactions. But two of the nation’s largest lenders, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. and IndyMac Bancorp Inc., already have signed up for the new AmEx program, and other lenders are expected to soon follow suit.

To participate, cardholders must pay a one-time fee of $395 to their lender to help defray the extra processing costs and fund the rewards program.

Customers who enroll will be able to earn cash back, airline and hotel points or other rewards that their particular brand of American Express card offers.

For example, the company says, a cardholder who puts his monthly $2,500 payment on his card could earn either 30,000 rewards points or get $385 in cash back at the end of 12 months, depending on the type of AmEx card that he holds.

The program certainly could prove helpful to cardholders who are anxious to build up their reward points or to those who want the option of putting their monthly payment on their credit card if sudden or unexpected expenses leave them short of cash to meet their housing bills.

The biggest downside: If you don’t pay the card’s entire balance off at the end of every month, AmEx’s own interest charges will kick in, and you’ll wind up paying 15 percent or more in card finance charges for a mortgage that probably has a note rate of only 6 percent or 7 percent.