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CedarStix Asked June 2022

Leasing home to stepmom. What can we legally do to move her to assisted living and/or ensure she gets the medical care she needs?

My father passed away last year at the age of 82 and our family home was left to me and my 2 siblings in a trust. I am the trustee. His trust states his wife (79) can live there as long she wishes. They had been married 5 years when my father passed. She had a severe stroke the 2nd year of their marriage and my father was her sole caregiver. She now lives alone which does not seem safe based on her cognitive decline and mobility issues. Her children have tried to talk to her about getting medical help or moving in with them or even into a smaller place of her own, but she refuses. Now she refuses to speak with them, and won't answer the phone or the door. She tells me that she often sees people in the house, her things are being stolen, and claims to see a man shining a flashlight into her bedroom window each night. She is losing weight and the home smells from urine and garbage. I must admit that I selfishly want her to move out so that we can sell our family home and get out from under the stressful (and financially burdensome) situation but we also care about her well being. Since she won't listen to her kid's pleas to move or get help, what can we legally do to move her to assisted living and/or ensure she gets the medical care she needs?

SnoopyLove Jun 2022
What a sad situation. My first thought is, has you or anyone else tried contacting APS about a vulnerable elder who seems to have lost the ability to care for herself?

CedarStix Jun 2022
Thank you for the advice and understanding! I'll take your suggestions into consideration and will share your thoughts with my siblings. I agree that eviction may be necessary if only to force her kids to step up and take responsibility for her care.

We have a Trust, not a Life Estate. I am the trustee. My father made us promise to let her stay as long as she wants but there's no tenancy clause in the trust, we're just trying to honor our dad's wishes. We pay the home insurance, property taxes, lawn care, and cover any maintenance issues that come up. When my dad started declining, he made me his durable POA and I helped him set all the recurring bills to auto pay so she doesn't have to worry about them. Considering her condition, we didn't expect her kids would want her to stay in the home alone. Now it's become our responsibility and we've reached a point where we going above and beyond what we promised our dad.

I have contacted APS but their response has been disappointingly slow. I suspect she won't answer the door anyway if APS attempts a well check. I did offer to meet them there since I have a key, so we'll see if they agree to that or not. I should hear from them next week.

Again, thank you for engaging with me today! It's been helpful to vent a little. :) I'll try to remember to stop in again with an update.
AlvaDeer Jun 2022
I am a bit relieved that your Dad (though he SHOULD HAVE if that was his wishes) did not in fact write anything into the Trust. And I am relieved you have honored his wishes as you have. But I agree that she is not well in all likelihood, and at some point the entire home is at risk with her there. I am glad you contacted APS. If she does not answer and you can let them in then that's good. She seems abandoned by her children. But APS will CALL THEM to take on emergency guardianship, not you. I would suggest that you not do it unless you were close and she "mothered you". She may become a ward of the state. At that point her assets whatever they are will be managed as will her diagnosis and placement.
I would make it clear to APS you feel she is now a danger to both herself and your property.
I hope you will update us after the case is hopefully turned to APS.
Best wishes for you.

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Geaton777 Jun 2022
Your first action is to figure out if anyone has PoA for her, most likely one of her kids? Is there anything in the trust paperwork about PoA? If there is a PoA then this person needs to read what is required to activate the authority in order to legally make decisions for your step-mom.

If no one is her PoA and you are leasing the home to her, you don't have to renew the lease, or you can go through a legal eviction process. But where she moves *to* is another matter. She doesn't need to like it or be cooperative. She sounds like she is in bad need of help and her own kids need to step up, if they're interested. Whatever you do, do not do anything without first looping in her kids first. You can inform the kids that the home IS going up for sale and that they need to work on helping get their mother placed (and give a deadline), either in their home or a facility. She's not really your problem since they were only married for 5 years and she has her own adult children. I wish you much wisdom and peace in your heart in working through this challenge.
imadaughter17 Jun 2022
The trust states she can live there as long as she wants.
JoAnn29 Jun 2022
"me and my 2 siblings in a trust. I am the trustee. His trust states his wife (79) can live there as long she wishes."

I don't know much about trusts but don't think it should have not been worded this way. What she wishes and what she needs is two different things. This is what you need to talk to a lawyer about. Of course she wants to stay there but she no longer can care for herself. It comes to a point its not what she wants, its what she needs.
You should not be paying out of pocket for anything concerning the house. If she can't afford to keep it up, she should not be living there. That should also have been written into the trust. This is a Life Estate thing and should have been written as such. Really, why should you be supporting her if she has children. She had health problems before why did your Dad think she could continue to live in the house with no care support.

Time to get together with her kids. Find out who is POA. Its their responsibility to have Mom found incompetent to make informed decisions. When they do that, then the POA can have her placed. Either her paying privately or POA applying for Medicaid and placing her. This is her children's responsibility. Tell them if not done in a reasonable time (Medicaid can take 3 months) you will need to consult a lawyer because you can't continue to pay out of pocket for her living there. (If thats the case) If no POA, then its the children's responsibility to call APS. I would only do it if her children do not follow thru.

reallyfedup Jun 2022
If you think she is currently at risk from self-neglect, you may want to ask for a welfare check and/or contact APS. You also want to find out if your stepmother has durable medical and financial powers of attorney already drawn up. If not, and she is determined no longer competent, her children may need to petition the court for guardianship/conservatorship.

As far as the trust, right now its terms allow your stepmother to live in the house as long as she wants. Undoubtedly, your father had her best interests in mind when he included that provision in the trust. However, one could reasonably argue that staying there now in her condition in no longer beneficial to her.

A rather extreme possibility is for you as trustee to decant the trust. If your state law allows for decanting, you can remove the assets from the present trust and pour them into a new trust in which you as the trustee have made changes to the original trust's terms -- including changes to beneficial interests. Any changes must be made within limitations in the decanting law.

Be warned that decanting can have tax and other implications, so anyone considering it really should consult a trust and estate attorney. In fact, you may want to consult with the attorney who drafted the original trust.

Most likely, decanting the trust will not be necessary but it's an interesting thought. Best wishes to you, your stepmother, and her kids.

The above are suggestions and not legal advice.
MargaretMcKen Jun 2022
Mine was advice from a lawyer, although not 'legal advice' because I'm not resident in the USA.
AlvaDeer Jun 2022
Have you read the Trust that allows her to stay in the home. Because some allow it as long as the person can remain independently in the home, but SOME Trusts are written that the property and the proceeds from any rental on the property belong during life estate. That would mean that she would be able to move into care, the Trust would be able to rent out the property giving her the proceeds of same during her life, no matter how long she lives. Also, many of these life estates things stipulate that the person benefitting (her) is responsible for paying the taxes and etc on property. IS she???? And is she doing it??? Because someone in her current condition may not understand the tax bills.
There is a whole lot to be concerned about. What is the upkeep? Are there leaks, things broken, mold setting in.
I don't know if this is a Trust, but there should be contact with Trustee if so. I would get a Trust and Estate Attorney. You have an interest in the care, upkeep, taxes and etc being paid on this property no matter what her condition is.
Next, make a wellness check report to APS with your concerns.
You are not her POA or her guardian. You have no rights to move her at all. The relatives will be contacted by APS. If they don't wish anything to do with this she may become ward of the state. Let her relations know this, because if this happens they will have nothing to say about where she is placed or about anything else regarding finances and etc.
Wishing you good luck. Hope you will update us.
AlvaDeer Jun 2022
Reread again and see this was left to you in trust. So read the trust. The language will tell you who responsible for taxes and upkeep. It might be her. Also read to see if she can stay there only so long as she is well, because often she has rights to come and go as she pleases in her lifetime. Just read your trust.
As far as her placement, that is likely something she needs. If her children don't step up tel them you are reporting to APS and she may fall under state guardianship if they don't wish to step up.
As you are Trustee you can see a good trust and estate attorney and you SHOULD. The trust pays for this.
I am not certain why it says that you are "leasing" it to her.
Good luck.
GardenArtist Jun 2022
I may have missed this somewhere in the many posts, and if so, I apologize.   But there's another issue.    How is the deed to the home titled?  Is it in the name of the trust?  Is the name of the initial Trustee included?
reallyfedup Jun 2022
If the house truly is in a viable trust, the house would be titled in the name of the trustee as trustee of the trust. CedarStix says that she is the trustee. This means that as trustee's her name is on the title but only as trustee of the trust. She is not on the title other than as trustee of the trust. Note: Sometimes, trust assets are titled in the name of the trust itself rather than in the trustee.

If she hasn't already, CedarStix should examine the precise terms of the trust, which we will assume is what her father intended. For example, he might have set it up that the house could not be sold and the proceeds split among his three children until his wife had died or left the premises not to return. He may have made this a condition of liquidating the assets and distributing them to the beneficiaries. No one but CedarStix and any attorney she engages will know this. If the trust terms are unclear, CedarStix, et al, can petition the court to decide what the father intended.

The complication is that her stepmother seems to no longer be able to care for herself and damage to the house and to herself is proof of that. It is a blessing that her children and the father's children agree that she needs intervention and care.
igloo572 Jun 2022
Did your dad do a “usufruct” for her? That somewhere in the Trust document or in a will, he put in a line or paragraph that he via the usufruct allows her to continue to stay indefinitely in a property owned by the Trust (he created) or property he owned and now is an asset of his estate (so probate involved)?

In my state - Louisiana- usufructs are really common for 2nd/3rd wives or long term girlfriend situation and tend to involve old family property or a weekend home. Even if in another state. It’s a way for dad to look Jr straight up and tell Jr that he is inheriting the house but omitting the details “that woman” gets to stay there till whenever and Jr has to pay all property costs as Jr “owns” it. If this happens, Really in my experience, everyone needs to get real kumbaya real fast or Jr will need to come up with a $ figure amenable to buy her out. Not upon sale of property nonsense either but cash her out before ever trying to sell it. Jr cannot show it or sell it easily as comes with forever tenant.

Usufructs are solvable but everyone needs to be competent and cognitive and civil. I think - in my not an attorney opinion - that your situation if it is a usufruct is way way more complicated as she is not competent or cognitive to negotiate with you to leave and be compensated plus you do not have existing relationship with her to get her to get the healthcare she needs. If you call APS and her kids want to get real huffy, they can go into you did these actions to primarily benefit yourself….. that You wrenched her out of her home that she has legal right to stay in, yada yada. So that being said, I’d suggest that you talk with the neighbors….that hopefully there will be a neighbor or two who has known them as a couple and now very concerned about her living situation and they contact APS &/or fire dept/LEO for a wellness check on her. Then afterwards you contact APS as to what follow up you can do to help her. Also do reach out to her kids to let them know you want to help your late dads wife.
If there’s a usufruct, and her kids become aware that having one provides for a negotiation point for their mom to get $ and you do anything they view as untowards to her, they can drag this out in court…. and all the while you have to pay all property taxes, insurance, utilities etc on the place.

Blinky Jun 2022
Does she have any of her own money? Can a live-in card giver be hired to stay with her and help her?
reallyfedup Jun 2022
I think that's a good idea but the impression I got from CedarStix is that she won't let anyone in the house. The stepmother really needs a physical and mental examination. We don't have a lot of information but I would bet that her lack of self-care has put her health at risk.
Countrymouse Jun 2022
A smelly house can't be solved with a maid if the person won't open the door to let the maid in.

The OP has made it clear enough that the family's first concern is for her stepmother's wellbeing; and it's hardly selfish or callous for the OP also to look forward to getting rid of the administrative headaches in due course.

The stepmother is a stroke survivor, recently widowed and now without a caregiver. The lady is declining support from her own family and struggling with activities of daily living.

A request for a welfare check, ideally coming from the lady's own children, should indeed be the first step.

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