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It is already stated in the will that the children will have authority if our parents are no longer competent to handle their affairs.

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i am in the process of selling my parents home with a POA. The realator looked over eveything and said it should be no problem. My dad has ALZ but mom is still mentally sharp. I hope she is right!
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See you can learn something all the time, I had no idea you could use a will this way, live and learn.
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I have lived in the home for 17 years with my children- I paid the mortgage for the first 9 years- my mom/dad paid for the property taxes and Insurance. I have been underemployed/unemployed for the past almost 8 years- they have been paying mortgage/property tax/insurance- for this time period.

I have paid for most of the repairs to the home- recarpeted, painted, etc- pay all utilities and costs affiliated with running a home- gardener, etc.

Now she is acting as if I have just been a renter-
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Yes, you need an attorney. I am in Arizona...and not a legal expert, but have knowledge of someone who shared a house for 20 years with another, who recently died, and because he lived in the house, helped pay for all maintenance and the mortgage and expenses of the house, he would be, in AZ, legally able to keep this house, even though there are other family members. Seems like you would have some rights to ownership, having lived in the home for 17 years. ??A mortgage ??property taxes ??maintenance expenses who paid those? That may have some bearing on it all. What is relationship with your siblings? Would they really put you out of the home if it was to be 1/3rd everyone's. And if this happens, then should you not be entitled to 1/3rd of all other assets left, since the house is not 'your inheritance' any longer? Only an attorney can advise....these are just questions coming to my mind if I were sitting in your place and hearing this news.
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My mother called a family meeting together to discuss her and my fathers will/trust. There are issues that are coming up that I deem inequitable to me- my father now has dementia and can not speak on my behalf- we made a verbal agreement 17 years ago when my parents purchased a home for myself and my two children - (I went through a divorce and would otherwise have been left homeless) The agreement was that my home would be "MY and MY children's inheritance" - and now she is trying to say that we have had a landlord/tenant relationship- so that when my parents are deceased "my" home will be assessed and its value will be split in 3 amongst myself, my sister and brother- I would like to know if anyone has gone through something similar to this- where one parent is no longer able to have a voice due to dementia- so the other parent is overruling the terms of the agreement- Unfortunately the agreement was verbal = I was never able to get my parents to put it in writing.... All advice would be greatly appreciated- I believe that I need to speak to an attorney- Thank you,
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If it is in the Will, then take that to the bank so to speak. You will be signing in their name with their Will as your POA. Get a good realtor with a great title company to handle the sale.
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I have durable power of attorney for my mother and we were able to sell her house using that. As far as guardianship, I have no idea. You will need to see an elder care attorney.
The Medicaid penalty period for my mom's house was 1 year because of it's value. That is why I have to wait 1 year before I can apply for Medicaid for her.
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I would wonder if Mountain57 has actually seen the 'will' or just had the parents give this info? I say this because when I took over my parents affairs, THE packet of legal info I received, as my original copy, had the will, the trust papers, and both the medical and durable POA for both parents with instructions. I would think if an attorney made up the 'will', it would have been done correctly for the state they live in. A whole new issue, if they made up their whole will though. I would think an hour with an attorney would be well worth the money, or call your council on aging to ask if there is any free legal aid for the elderly in your area, if the parents really cannot afford it....
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Im in the same boat except my Mom and Dad are alive but Dad has dementia.I have been doing their bills and picking up prescriptions,doc app.,everything but I dont know where to begin they dont have the money for an attorney I got all the paperwork from an office store.The POA.health surogate will but I dont know where to take it.Someone told me I have to go to the courthouse and have everything recorded.Is this true?Also how do I find out all my questions I have asked on this site were are the anwsers Thank you
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This is a very good example of how some preplanning would have solved the Problem. However it is not 'Legal Advice'....

1. setting up Durable POA's which extend into 'incapacity' would give power to sell or transfer.
2. There is a problem with both MEDICAID and Veterans Benefits in these cases:
A. Since no valid transfer of the property took place at least 5 years prior, the property is likely subject to MEDICAID Look back / estate recovery. If this is a Medicaid event or could be later...
B. The sale of the house in Parents name would probably affect VA eligibility, could lead to disqualification/payback demand.
C, Setting up the Durable POA BEFORE an incapacity diagnosis, should eliminate the guardianship event, and problems that Maria referred to.

I have assisted countless families in the Metro Atlanta area,
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You do need to go directly to an Elder Law Attorney on this. I do not think a will is sufficient to sell your parents home. I have Durable Power of Attorney over Finances and Healthcare on my Mom and yet there are times that I even have problems with banks etc.

I have been told by Attorneys that seeking guardianship is a long, tiring and expensive ordeal as I believe there are many "hoops to jump through" in the process, such as documentation and letters from doctors. It always amazes me that doctors KNOW BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that the patient is not competent but they do not want to sign/write letters. Perhaps if an only child is seeking their help they are more apt to help, as they do not want to assist any one child that may wind up stealing from the other siblings.

There are other issues here as well that you will need to discuss with the Elder Law Attorney in relation to your parents care and the money obtained from their home. If your parents do have Alzheimer's and there is a chance that they may have to go into a nursing home and may have to go on Medicaid, the money you obtain from the sale of the house will be counted as assets in the 5 year look back. You really need to discuss these issues with an attorney as they can tell you the best way to go. Please do not solely rely on information from us, seek a professional to assist you.
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To sell my mother's house, yes, I did need to have legal guardianship, and then once you have that, you need to petition the court to get permission to put the house on the market. Then you have to go before the court to let the judge know what offers you got. Then you need to have the judge approve the offer you want to accept. It is a nightmare and hassle, but unless you had a DPOA in place before they became incompetent, that's the route you have to go (at least in Illinois). And once you go the legal guardianship route, it's not just the house that you have to present to the court. EVERYTHING you do for your parents will be monitored by the court. It is expensive because there are two lawyers involved: one to represent you/your parents and one that represents your parents for the court. We haven't even been in guardianship for a full year yet and already it has cost us well over $15,000 to sell the house and take care of all the other business that comes in the first year of guardianship (setting up budgets, etc.).
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I would definitely contact a good elder law attorney who specializes in guardianships, and can examine the will to ascertain what course of action should be taken. Guardianships are very expensive, but it is worth it. Where are your parents now? Are they living with you? in a nursing home? I applied for guardianship over my mother, and it was a long, tedious process. I didn't have a good attorney, and my mom couldn't remember the name of her attorney. With it, I had legal authority from the court to view her medical records, make decisions on her welfare, talk to the doctors, and conduct any other business. Without it, I didn't access to any information. If you don't have a good elder law attorney, there are attorneys listed on this website, state by state.
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Hi there, I've been a real estate agent, in Florida, since 2004, and we would require a DPOA. Our office policy was to never refer to a will, since they are usually read after the person dies.
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I don't know about this being put in a will, I would contact the lawyer that made the will up and find out. I do believe that you need to have a durable power of attorney made before your parents were deemed incompetent. I do not know about a will, which really addresses the after death wishes.
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