Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Yes you need sound legal advice. The way to get it is to make an appointment to see an attorney who handles estates. There is no way with such limited information could any attorney give you sound legal advice. Good luck.

{John}

Verbal agreements are not enforceable in terms of transferring assets unless you are claiming that your mother made a completed gift of the cars to you prior to her death. If your mother made a will then her property passes as per the will. If she did not make a will, then her assets will pass as per the intestacy laws of the state where she lived at the time of her death. There may be limited circumstances where oral expressions would prevail but you post no details so I agree with Attorney Davidson that you need an attorney.

Power of attorney ends at death, so the fact that your sister was power of attorney is meaningless. The question is did your mother have a will and who is the personal representative?

Medicaid by law is obligated to seek recovery from your mother's estate. You suggest that your mother conveyed her land away 3 years ago and was on Medicaid. That is not possible. Medicaid has a 5 year lookback period from the time your mother applied for Medicaid. Either your mother conveyed the property away more than 5 years before the time that she needed Medicaid or she engaged in fraud or she would have been ineligible to receive it before the 5 year period expired. Or you have misstated the facts which is another reason why you need to speak to an attorney.

I am not sure what you are being asked to sign. If its just a consent to have a family member be the administrator of the estate, it would probably be o, but without looking at the form, no attorney would tell you to sign a document that you do not understand.

If you are only being asked to consent to the appointment of an administrator, you are not giving up any rights of inheritance. However, heirs can only inherit assets after all the debts have been paid and your post suggests that Medicaid is going to seek reimbursement. In that case, there will not be anything left to inherit if your mother only owned the cars. You could buy the cars from the estate but then you add that you had problems with the family and the administrator could sell them to someone else.

I would consult a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where your mother lived at the time of her death and pay the attorney to review both the form you are being asked to sign and the circumstances here including whether any verbal expressions would be enforceable.