Myrt, can still function but her mental state is losing ground quite rapidly, The family has control of her home finances, and we have taken her car away. Living in the house with her are 2 of my wifes younger brothers. Gary (51), the older of the two manages the care for his mom(85) and his younger brother Keith(47). However Keith is retarded but functional and can do simple things on his own but would never be able to live on his own. Years ago , Myrt had a trust drawn up that made Keith the bennif. of the house so that he would always have the home to live in. Keith is the recipient of Gov assit programs and daily workshops. However if he receives the house, those programs end and will have to fend for himself and without income, would (against Myrt's wishes) have to sell the house, pay the taxes and try and live on that for the next 40+ years in a group home ($$$$$).We had a new family trust created and at the point of having Myrt sign it, but she was not having a good day and the attorney when asking Myrt questions to see if she understood what was happening, She just shut down, and at that point the attorney ended the new trust and we are now left with the old one. Anytime we try and discuse this with her we get the "I dont care" and "dont want to deal with it" responce from her. My wife and myself have no problems with the final living araingsments with the 2 brothers remaining in the house and the older brother has no problems with my wife having control of the estate- But how does my wife get control and change to the new trust before it becomes too late.
As for how your wife gets control of the situation, I have less advice as I have not been in that situation. If myrt is still competent to make her own decisions this will be very difficult. I hope others will have more advice for this question.
Angel
There's also a possibility of providing that the older brother be named jointly as the deed holder, 50/50, which would split the younger brother's financial interest, although I don't know the exact specifics of what qualifies him for the special needs assistance he's getting. Maybe even a 75/25 split might work.
Another possibility is to create a subtrust for the younger brother by providing for some funds, or creating provisions whereby the younger brother stays in the house but not as an owner.
I'm just throwing these ideas out - an attorney who's skilled in special needs trusts might have better ideas.
The other issue is as you suggest, that your wife execute either a special needs amendment or a new trust, or a subtrust (if it's possible and legally recommended to blend that into an existing trust), if the POA creates that broad authority.
I'm sure there's a way this can be done, but I suspect the attorney who declined to go ahead when Myrt "shut down" misinterpreted or felt that Myrt wasn't qualified to continue, when it could simply be that she was just overwhelmed.
And you'll need an attorney who not only specializes in elder law, but also in special needs trusts.
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