My sister is POA of my mother. My father is deceased. My father’s Will states that she and I receive an even split of the money from the sale of my parents' home. My mom is in a nursing home. She has dementia. My sister gutted my parents' house down to the bone and spent $200k on luxurious renovations. She told me it would only be maximum of $45k for little fix-its to put it up for sale. She never disclosed the large-scaled expensive renovations to me. She showed me once it was all done. Now she said that once the house sells, she’s going to instantly take $100k from my inheritance portion to pay for half of these highly expensive renovation costs. Does she have the legal right to give me “what she sees fit” for my inheritance monies???? Can she legally do this????? Help!
I had to do that, and lawyer said why didn't you come to me sooner? Don't put it off.
It sounds like, Your dads will left everything to his wife (it was a “pour over” will) and only upon mom’s death will there ever be any distribution of assets of her estate to her beneficiaries, which are you and your Sister. You really should not count on an inheritance ahead of time; there could not actually be anything substantial left.
So NOT until mom dies and probate runs it’s course, will there ever be an inheritance. Sissy is POA so Sissy in charge of any decisions regarding moms care, how it paid for or what happens with moms assets while alive. There is no requirement to have mom die and actually leave an inheritance…. If $ needs to be spent by the POA on moving mom to a way more expensive place or hiring extra aides for mom or doing maintenance or reno to moms property, it can be done by the POA.
If in fact Sissy has fronted the $$$ to do the most recent repairs / renovations, I’d guess that in fact there really isn’t much money liquid (like in savings or sitting in a bank account) as moms cash is all dedicated to paying for her care. I imagine that’s Sissy is spending her own $ to get a better price on moms place and plans to be fully reimbursed from the Act of Sale $. Sounds like your BIL has his staff keep precise records so all this can be verified and to the penny paid to Sis & beyond ok for any legal challenges or future probate filings.
Your Sister as POA has a fiduciary duty to your mom as to how $ is spent and how moms assets are managed. For you to challenge her as POA, you have to, HAVE TO, have an attorney, take her to court and show via forensic accounting of moms finances for past 2-3 years that Sissy is not doing her fiduciary duty and a guardian needs to be named. Your attorneys could file to have it be you, but if you have your own financial issues, iffy credit reports, no secure income, the court isn’t going to appoint you….. either court determines you have no reason to challenge Sissy as POA or an outside guardian is named & they get total control of mom, her health care and her home & her $; plus an outside guardian can bill professional hourly rates to administer moms affairs. Watch what you wish for…….
I’m not trying to be harsh but it comes across as you are… in the words of an Aunt of mine…. “1 will reading from being able to buy a used car”. Should you challenge your Sister, all the negative decisions you have made will be brought out & in detail by her attorney to the court. For your own sake, don’t go there. Let Sissy get moms house sold, get reimbursed for her costs, pay for whatever great care mom needs and hopefully when mom finally dies there actually is $ left that can be distributed to you & Sissy as per moms will.
Do you have anything in writing from your sister of her intent to take funds off your inheritance? What documentation exists to prove the accuracy and validity of her expenditures?
The current downturn of stocks and house sales probably will cost her in making a heftier profit. But as house is owned outright she just has to sell it for more than its renovations and property tax & insurance costs to be good. I’ll bet you a case of Prosecco that Sissy hubs is beyond glad she has his Mil house to deal with otherwise Sissy would be riding his butt on their doing flips.
Then, there are numerous steps to settle the estate - if she has had to go on Medicaid due to lack of her own funds (because they were spent to renovate her house and then sell it), Medicaid. has the right to recover the cost of all the care that she received. They can put a lien on the house so that a sale makes them the first creditor.
If your mother lives for 5 full years past the date of the last bill for the renovation, then Medicaid may not go after the house.
Medicaid is the payer of last resort and is required to ensure that all other resources have been used for the elder's benefit.
As Geaton states, I hope she is keeping very good records.
Please don't count on receiving any inheritance - while it was your Dad's wish, the reality is more complex. I'm sorry your sister has done this, causing distress for you.
Sometimes in order to get top dollar from a home sale, many updates and renovations need to happen. I see it all the time here where I live. If she is the only PoA she is under no obligation to disclose anything about your Mom's affairs to you now or ever. If you think fraud or financial abuse is being committed, you will need to take hard evidence to an attorney to fight it on your Mother's behalf.
As PoA, I hope your sister is keeping very detailed record of what she was and is spending for your Mom.
Insofar as your dad's excellent stocks, well, I know MY portfolio is down about 20% since we have entered into a bear market. The value of those stocks might not outlive your mom; you might need all the value of that house to continue to pay for mom's care.
In other words, I think this "worry" over your share of an inheritence is somewhat pre-mature. When the time comes, if there is still a question as to your share, you can probably challenge that when the estate comes into probate.
To put into a house $200k in renovation costs, your sister is forgetting that the neighborhood sets the price, not the over-the-top renovations. I've been in real estate for over 30 years, and have seen this mistake over and over.
You mentioned that your sister is married to a multi-millionaire. Don't forget that even multi-millionaires can be up to their eyeballs in debt. Those who brag and show off shiny new objects aren't as wealthy as they say.
You are NOT responsible for any of her remodeling. It was her choice. I would speak to an Elder Law Attorney to get his/her ideas on how to handle this matter.