Is it possible to sell mom's car and place the money in her bank account for her care and upkeep on her home?

Like any sale of personal property, it takes a signature, with a Notary Public's stamp of approval. If you are the Attorney-in-Fact, then you have Power of Attorney and can go ahead with the sale of the car. YOUR signature will have to be notarized. My state keeps the title in the hands of the lienholder, whereas some states give the title to the buyer immediately with only a lien written on the back of the title. Lienholder must sign-off on the lien before title is transferred to a new owner.

What JAM said above is good. However, Medicaid will expect a report of income (perhaps right away?) and will only allow a certain amount for certain things. Once she is on Medicaid, the budget is set and you don't get to change it, regardless of what upkeep the house may need. Also check your timing. I believe she can use the money for a period of days, but must have only $2000 in assets by the end of the month or something. It's called spend down. I know somebody who "had" to go buy a couch because the bank acct got too high. Since she is already receiving Medicaid and living in a facility, she should already have a case manager. If not, the facility probably has someone to help you. She may have had a case manager at DSHS when she enrolled, but they change pretty often so you might not know who it is currently. Just get ready to spend the money on time and stay under $2k or the rest is owed for medical care and will mess up her monthly support payments if you try to keep it. Anything with a title (car, boat etc) is a red flag especially and as somebody on this site was wise to point out, gets reported to the (state?) government agencies. Oh, and another thing...fair market value. You can't sell the car for $20 to your neice, let's say, if it's worth $6,000. That considered a "gift" and not allowed.

Yes. POA is needed

I'm surprised being on Medicaid that your mother was allowed to keep her home. Look at your POA and see what it entails. Some are only for medical, others financial and still others do both. If yours is for financial it should say something to the effect that you have the power to "act in her stead" or do whatever she would do in the same situation. In the POA that my husband and I have for his mother it states that we are allowed to act for her or in her name to: grant, bargain, sell, exchange, lease, mortgage or otherwise convey any part or all of the real estate or personal property now owned or hereafter acquired by me"............that is where you should start. Just make sure you keep records of the transaction, so if Medicaid should have questions you can show where the funds went to her account for her care.

Yes, if you have a durable power of attorney form then you can do all of these things you have mentioned. Durable POA allows you to make any financial decision-making power that serves in your mom's best interest.