Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

A life estate generally terminates upon the person's death or agreement. I can't tell from your question who has the life estate -- you or your Mother. If you own the life estate, you don't need your Mother's agreement to give away your life estate. If your Mother had the life estate, then you will need her agreement to terminate her life estate. But since she has Alzhimers, she may be legally unable to execute an agreement. If so, then she will need a guardian or you will need a court order to convey the property. You should talk to a lawyer soon. Good luck.

While any attorney would have to see the deed, it sounds as if your mother deeded the property to you and kept a life estate for herself. Why have you paid taxes and upkeep: That is the responsibility of the life tenant, your mother. While I understand your mother is incapacitated, she should have appointed an agent under a financial power of attorney to manage her assets for her. If she has not done that, then its probably too late depending on how advanced her Alzheimer's is.

Given her condition, it probably would have been better for her to sell her life estate to you before the Alzheimer's set in. Is she getting Medicaid? Who is her power of attorney, if anyone? If none, perhaps you or someone else should get appointed as her guardian as your mother is not going to be mentally competent depending on how advanced the Alzheimer's is. I assume its fairly far along if your mother is not institutionalized. The guardian would then be able to assist in selling the property.

Unfortunately, it is true that where a life estate exists, neither the life tenant (your mother) or the remainderman (you) can sell the property without the joinder of the other. The problem here is if your mother is getting Medicaid. You really need to consult an elder law attorney who specializes in these types of situations because you do not want to do anything that will jeopardize your mother's entitlement to benefits. The life estate has some value to it and if she just sells or gives the life estate away it may cause her to exceed the allowable asset level for Medicaid.

I really think you need to consult with an attorney rather than run the risk of mucking this up and making an even bigger mess. It is evident that very little planning was done here and now it may be too late.