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Guess my question is, who pays for any improvements before it can be rented? The income from renting would go to the MC to assist in paying for monthly care.

Any mortgage on the prooerty?? If the house expenses go unpaid, the property may go to foreclosure or repossessed by the county for unpaid taxes.. Sorry to see this Trust situation.
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Reply to Patathome01
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The trustee pays it from the trust funds.
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Reply to WoodyB
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Owners responsibility. For your situation - in my understanding on Trusts - it is not the POAs responsibility. It is the whomever is the Trustee of that irrevocable Trust responsibility to deal with. Hopefully you are both POA & Trustee as it makes things simpler but it is 2 entirely different “hats”.

So if the Trust is the legal owner, then it’s from the Trusts own $ to pay property costs. Often a big issue with folks putting a house in a Trust is that they are doing a “trust” that only has that house as its asset. There is no $ in the “trust”; no investments themselves in the “trust“. The elders are using their own personal $ to pay for all. & something happens, so $ is no longer available, and it becomes a crisis.

Ideally a real Trust has its own assets which make $ that support & pay for all the costs related to all the assets owned by & held in the Trust. We’re talking a Trust that has investments that “feed” the Trust. The beneficiaries of the Trust - like someone who lives in the house - never has to ever fret paying property taxes, or worry about having $ to pay pay for a new roof, as there is $ in the Trust to cover costs. Plus $ to pay for any legal and CPA services as needed. The Trustee or the law firm who drew up the Trust deals with all this.

If an unfunded “trust” is what was done, and you are going to end up fronting the $ for the many many costs of property ownership, and IF you expect to be/need to be reimbursed, contact the law firm who did that trust to have them give you options as to what type of document that can be done to deal with your fronting $. So you protect your own interests in some way.

As an aside, I’ve done tax sales and every year there will be dz. upon dzs. of properties in the sale list who are held in a trust or a Life Estate and are delinquent on property taxes. What seems to happen is the elderly property owner - who created the trust - was paying taxes from their SS income / savings and now they either gone into a facility or have died. So taxes went unpaid. And nobody in the family was up for paying the taxes as they 1. did not have the $ to do so; or 2. would not necessarily end up acquiring the home entirely so why should they (like why should they pay taxes that their brother and his worthless wife could also benefit from type of scenario). There was a married couple that did tax sales who only bid on these type of delinquencies…. they researched the old owner, their obits and looked for far flung heirs or something else that screamed dysfunctional family; those were the only ones they bid on and were successful in doing a redemption most of the time. It was impressive strategy. I mention this because it can be really easy to let prop taxes go unpaid and the house ends up being legally title transferred to outsiders.
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Reply to igloo572
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The trust should pay for it.
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Reply to Gagaof7
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Patathome01 May 19, 2025
Yes, the Trust pays there is any money left in the Trust.
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Normally, the POA would pay upkeep out of the principles money. POAs are not obligated to use their own money. If principle has no money, the POA nay allow them to sell the house.

But this is a trust so you need someone to explain the trust.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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I'm not sure of your situation, I was thinking about renting moms house for a couple of months to a reliable neighbor. Oh my!! I found out I'd have to become the landlord with all the paperwork (report payments and give certificates of rent paid,upkeep of property, replace damaged or broken appliances)and I had enough going on! I then read stories on squatters, people refusing to leave and damaging the property besides. I saw sometimes it takes months to get them out with no rent for all that time. I couldn't take the risk,even for my good Christian neighbors friend! If you have the opportunity to sell, it would be easier for you. If she runs out of funds, the government should take over as long as all the proceeds of the property went for her care.
I also went through a similar situation with wanting to hire a friend for my mothers care,I had to become an employer! It's tough finding alternatives.
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Reply to JuliaH
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KNance72 May 17, 2025
I was a Landlord for 10 years . A demanding Job . No Thank You .
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The owner pays for any improvements, that would be the Trust.

Your best bet would be to speak to the attorney that set up the trust, if they aren't available then any Estate planning attorney can guide you on the law that governs this.
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Reply to anonymous749199
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You will need to actually read the trust paperwork as this may already be addressed in it, and trusts can be customized so your best legal answer will probably come from a local elder law attorney or trust banker. It's the trustee who manages the trust. Are you a trustee?
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