As long as it's the right sort of POA (a springing, Durable POA designed to come into force when your mother is no longer of sound mind) and your mother has been declared incompetent then no your mother cannot consent to the sale of her property - and your brother has perfectly demonstrated why.
No contract, no sale, the property remains whoever's it was before your bro "snuck in." Is there anything on paper?
If your mother is of sound mind and has not be ruled incompetent or incapacitated, yes, she can sell her property without your OK. Your POA does not usurp her right to make decisons on her own.
She can sell whatever she wants to; your POA enables you to do things on her behalf should become incapacitated or unable. To be in total control, so she could not sell her home, or transfer assets, well that would need for you to become her guardian. Guardianship is a totally different process than POA & requires court filing, hearing(s) b 4 a judge, reporting, etc.
So brother got mom to sell her home to him for $500. Assuming the property is worth way more, the issue is he took advantage of a vulnerable adult (your mom). Should she need the $ that a FMV / fair market value sale of the house would provide for her, or should bro kick mom out so she’s homeless (or you too if you live there), then bro needs to be charged with taking advantage of a vulnerable adult. You’d start this by gathering up all the documentation and contacting APS (adult protective services) so they can do thier investigation and then they contact law enforcement. Often if you do this, the threat of law enforcement placing charges will cause the bad child to transfer the property back to the parent. And then you’ll need to file for guardianship so that mom cannot be persuaded to do stuff like this ever again. Your guardianship will over rule anything she tries to do on her own.
The sticky part is that Mom has to be willing to file charges against her son. OR if she’s deemed incompetent then you as dpoa need to be willing to do this against your brother.
Please realize that if she needs to apply for Medicaid sometime btween now and summer of 2026, the transfer of the home will place a gifting penalty on her LTC Medicaid application based on the full value of the home and she will be ineligible for LTC till the penalty period is over. A home with assessor value of 200k in a state that Medicaid pays $200 a day for NH care would have 1,000 day penalty starting the day she applied for LTC Medicaid. She would need to not file till August, 2026 in order to get beyond the 5 yr lookback that LTC Medicaid requires.
Igloo is spot on as usual in these matters. The question her is one of competency, and gifting as it pertains to future medicaid needs. Talked her into selling it to who, exactly? To him? Because that kind of exchange is considered elder abuse and fraud and is reportable at once lacking any other explanations. If your mother is competent to sell then she can sell. Your POA overrides your mother's wishes ONLY when she is not competent to make her own decisions and this has been attested to according to your document of POA. So she can sell, but if she sells it for 500.00 she is gifting the rest of its assessed value and this would mean there will be no medicaid for your Mom for the 2 1/2 (California) to 5 years (most other states) length of time. Adult Protective Services should be contacted on Monday because it sounds very much as though your Mom may not have understood what she is doing.
No contract, no sale, the property remains whoever's it was before your bro "snuck in." Is there anything on paper?
To be in total control, so she could not sell her home, or transfer assets, well that would need for you to become her guardian. Guardianship is a totally different process than POA & requires court filing, hearing(s) b 4 a judge, reporting, etc.
So brother got mom to sell her home to him for $500. Assuming the property is worth way more, the issue is he took advantage of a vulnerable adult (your mom). Should she need the $ that a FMV / fair market value sale of the house would provide for her, or should bro kick mom out so she’s homeless (or you too if you live there), then bro needs to be charged with taking advantage of a vulnerable adult. You’d start this by gathering up all the documentation and contacting APS (adult protective services) so they can do thier investigation and then they contact law enforcement. Often if you do this, the threat of law enforcement placing charges will cause the bad child to transfer the property back to the parent. And then you’ll need to file for guardianship so that mom cannot be persuaded to do stuff like this ever again. Your guardianship will over rule anything she tries to do on her own.
The sticky part is that Mom has to be willing to file charges against her son. OR if she’s deemed incompetent then you as dpoa need to be willing to do this against your brother.
Please realize that if she needs to apply for Medicaid sometime btween now and summer of 2026, the transfer of the home will place a gifting penalty on her LTC Medicaid application based on the full value of the home and she will be ineligible for LTC till the penalty period is over. A home with assessor value of 200k in a state that Medicaid pays $200 a day for NH care would have 1,000 day penalty starting the day she applied for LTC Medicaid. She would need to not file till August, 2026 in order to get beyond the 5 yr lookback that LTC Medicaid requires.
Talked her into selling it to who, exactly? To him? Because that kind of exchange is considered elder abuse and fraud and is reportable at once lacking any other explanations. If your mother is competent to sell then she can sell. Your POA overrides your mother's wishes ONLY when she is not competent to make her own decisions and this has been attested to according to your document of POA. So she can sell, but if she sells it for 500.00 she is gifting the rest of its assessed value and this would mean there will be no medicaid for your Mom for the 2 1/2 (California) to 5 years (most other states) length of time. Adult Protective Services should be contacted on Monday because it sounds very much as though your Mom may not have understood what she is doing.