Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Iowa
How much authority does ''power of attorney'' allow the family member who has be
My mother, who has Alzheimer's, was recently admitted to a nursing home because my sister, her primary caretaker for the past 6 yrs., felt it was becoming unsafe to keep her at home any longer. My father is deceased & my mother's children(including myself) consist of 3 daughters & 1 son (who has power of attorney). My other sister & I have always wanted to show our gratitude to the caretaking sis (who is divorced/low income) by giving her the house & dividing up the other assets equally. We thought our bro. was in agreement w/ this. Instead, he has decided that we should sell the house now (to his stepson) & use the proceeds to pay the nursing home bills. This leaves the caretaking sis w/ no home & no compensation for her sacrifices these past years. My mother still has enough income to pay for a nursing home for quite a while. Does our brother have the right to sell the house against our wishes? Don't we need to sign off on the sale of the house? Could we refuse to do so unless a % of the proceeds went to the caretaking sis? I need clarity about just how much power my brother has in these circumstances. I don't want my sis to suffer just because my bro. wants to help his stepson buy a house. Help!
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: How much authority does ''power of attorney'' allow the family member who ha
This situation is not unique in each specific case depends upon the main individual and bear awareness of what is going on. If she suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is fairly along into the disease process, my immediate reaction would be to petitioner courts have a conservator appointed. Half court supervision over all of the assets and individuals in regard to your mother. A power of attorney is valid based upon the terms of the power granted. The question was was the individual aware of what she was signing at the time she signed it in what is her "awareness" now. Their numbers of questions I have but your brother can not alone, depending upon the power of attorney, deal with the assets and the house. Yet, you must do something immediately to make sure that he doesn't even get the ball rolling in terms of that. By the way, selling it to his stepson is not necessarily out of the picture black, it must be for good and valuable consideration. Fair market value. So, in this situation my feeling is he is doing certain things to be self-serving rather than for the benefit of all of the siblings, but more importantly his mother.i have been practicing law in this speciality for over 30 years in the san francisco bay area and if you wish to consult with me you can contact me at 925-945-6000.
Re: How much authority does ''power of attorney'' allow the family member who ha
The heading of your question mentions "power of attorney", but there is nothing in the body of your question that refers to that.
If you can't work this out among yourselves, someone should petition the court to be named conservator.
Re: How much authority does ''power of attorney'' allow the family member who ha
Well, the body of your question does mention power of attorney, as far as I can read. :)
So, I would recommend going to a probate attorney who is well versed in areas of Powers of Attorney and conservatorships. You need to get legal help right away, there is not much you can do on your own, especially if you borhter is starting to get things ready to sell the house. If you or your mother are in the Los Angeles/San Gabriel Valley area, please feel free to contact us.
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