I'm not an attorney. I am going through the same thing with my parents. Your parents can give you whatever they would like from the estate. The tax free limit is $2M. After the 2m mark, you then get into capital gains, inheritance tax, etc. You must be aware that anything that is given to you prior to their death also comes with their basis for tax purposes. Example: They bought their homestead for $100K, the house will now appraise at $500K. If they give you the house, you assume their basis of $100K for tax purposes whereas if the house comes to you via the estate, your basis becomes the $500k number. Why do you care? If the property was given to you and you sell for $500k you will pay capital gains on $400K. However, if the property was willed to you via the estate, you sell the property for $500k, you have no capital gains. There are some other pitfalls to avoid as well.

Check with an attorney that you trust for each state has some funky rules concerning basis and capital gains, etc. Good Luck.