We may need to sell mom's house to pay for her assisted living. How do I proceed as POA?

You did ask about the papers. If you mean the deed, it should be in the house or a safe deposit box if you mom has one. I knew my friends, Jim and Beth, did not have a safety deposit box. In going through their house, I noticed a locked cabinet under the work bench. Sure enough, all the important papers they had were there. It took a long time to find everything, but I gave myself a wide window of time to get all this done, in addition to living my own life.
You can ask your mom if she has everything in a safe place out of concern and then learn where these papers may be.

You mentioned that your mother needs 24 hour care, but does not qualify for "medical." If you mean that your mother is not medically needy enough to need nursing home care, and you are considering less restrictive memory care in assisted living facility, your mother can privately pay for assisted living using her savings and the house sale proceeds.

With proper planning, there may even be PACE or other needs-based programs in your state that your mother could qualify for in the assisted living setting.
 
Talk with an elder law attorney in your state who knows the Medicaid regulations, and you can coordinate the house sale and the 401k liquidation with planning for eligibility for Medicaid if your mother needs a nursing home admission in the future.
 
When your mother meets the medical requirements for Medicaid paid nursing home care, there will be regulations in your state that allow your mother to use her life savings for non-countable assets, and/or to set the funds aside in a pooled trust for her supplemental needs.
 
The elder law attorney in your state will be able to:
review the Power of Attorney document,
confirm whether you have authority to sell the real estate (or need authority from a Court),
explain all of your Medicaid planning options, and
take care of all the details involved with real estate transaction for you.

Finding the right attorney who can handle all of these Medicaid planning and real estate tasks will save you time, allow you to focus on the priorities of life, and protect your mother now and in the future.

A durable power of attorney should grant you legal power to do any and all actions that a
person would do for themselves. If you have a durable power of attorney it should mention your power to conduct real estate transactions. Have you read the actual power of attorney document? Please do, read it more than once. (Yes, it is boring.) Consult a real estate agent with the POA in hand. If you have ever sold a house yourself, it will be the exact same procedure with the same documents.

Just finished this process. Had a short form DPOA which gave me full authority but I also checked with Elder Attorney. Price was fixed through the coop association who did the paperwork of a realtor. Went fairly smoothly.

Do a lot of research on reverse mortgages, they are actually a really bad idea.

They have tons of requirements and clauses that can allow them to "call the note" they are a for profit industry. If this wasn't lucrative, they wouldn't exist.

Has has anyone answered your question? I find that Mom was in the same situation as you,but my brothers who have power of attorney, sold my mom's house without asking her if the price was reasonable. She needed more money then she received. My brothers were in such a hurry that they took the first offer and then lowered the price. So my mom is in a bad situation and she's very angry about this. I'd appreciate hearing anything that would help my mom recover some of that money.

When I was made POA for my friends, Jim and Beth, they gave me complete authority over their finances and health care. They had no children or close relatives and I had been friends with them for over 40 years and worked with Beth at school for 18 years. She had frontal temporal dementia and the husband had short term memory issues which prevented him from seeing the changes she was going through. I finally got them into a memory care apartment 2 years later. It took me 2 1-2 years to get their town house ready for sale. There were some repairs that needed tending to and then I had to move all their stuff out. That was the most time consuming part.
During this time, the man in charge leasing the memory care apartments and I became friends. He was impressed that I was doing this for people who weren't even my relatives. Once Jim and Beth got there, he quit because his own father needed more care and he needed a flexible schedule to help with this father. His wife told him he should get his real estate license, so he did. Then he became my realtor, giving me advice on what to do or not do and a suggested "as is" price to ask. It took another 6 months to finally be ready to show and there was a shortage of low cost housing, so I told him to add another $20,000 to the asking price. The second couple who saw it bought it for that price. Those explicit POA documents with all the choices of authority spelled out opened all the doors I needed. Their bank was relieved there was someone to help them since Jim and Beth could not keep track of their finances any more and they were the ones who had notarized the forms, so there was never any questions about who I was and what I could do. I never told Jim all that I was doing and that I had sold their townhouse. I took the check directly to their bank and deposited it. It has paid for about a year of his care. I don't know what your POA forms look like, but mine is several pages long going into detail about what I can do. Good luck--there is much work ahead!

another word of advice, if you are in California....after selling the house, you will have issues if you are trying to go the Medicaid or medi-cal route. they go back 3-5 years. so, even if they give all the money away to children or it is in a trust, if they are the trustees, its a problem. I was informed by an atty there, when I was trying to place my parents in an assisted living and get them some medi-cal/medicaid help before the house sold, even if they qualified for it at the time, once the house sells, they not only would be forced to pay back out of the house sale everything that was paid out on their behalf, they would be removed from medi-cal and no longer be eligible for any benefit. Then you are really in a bind.

the person owning the house has to live in it for a reverse mortgage to work. after being vacated for 1 year, the house has to sell or turned over to the bank in most cases.

depends on what state you are in and the way your poa is written. consult atty. but, if you have a broad sweeping financial  poa you should have no problem. You might also need a letter from her physician stating she is not capable of making financial decisions. It helps for the letter to show a true diagnosis of some form of dementia. (I am going through the same process right now). My atty said the letter does give me the authority based on the way my poa is written.

I just went through this (in Ohio). While I have a "durable" POA, I was advised by my Realtor and my Mom's attorney to get a special POA for the specific purpose of the home sale. That would remove any question of my authority to proceed. Certainly, to close the sale, you'll have to sign a deed to the property, and the title company will scrutinize your authority - as they should. You don't want a sale to blow up at that point, or be unnecessarily delayed by legal questions. The Realtor's company (largest in Ohio) had a form drafted by the company attorneys. Our lawyer reviewed it, then printed it up and brought it to the Assisted Living facility for my Mom to sign. The lawyer, myself, and a third person were there to witness. The lawyer notarized the document, then gave me the original copy. I was able to explain the purpose to my Mom and she is still able to sign her name. I had no legal difficulties thereafter, signing listing agreement, purchase contract, deed, and so on. One other problem you may encounter with your "durable" POA is the date that it was signed? I ran into this yesterday with an IRA account my Mom has with a well-known insurance company. They said if the IRA was more than two years old, they'd require written proof that it was still "current" (no later POA's have been executed). I thought that was kind of ridiculous, but have little choice but to play the game by their rules. I've drafted a simple letter stating that the durable POA my Mom signed in 2004, naming me as her POA, is still in effect. I'll take that over to her today for her to sign. All this to simply do a "change of address", since they were still sending statements to the home we just sold!

In TX - file the POA at the county clerks office. That will make everything easier for you. Doing that just involves taking the original doc to the clerks office. They will file it for you.
Read the document and verify that it has no stipulations. Then you handle it as if it’s your property. Of course, always inform the RE agent and all involved that you’re doing this on her behalf. You can google proper signing as POA and it’ll show that. We’re going through that now, as well. It’s hard because our mom cannot be told about it. It’s too upsetting and she gets very confused. I wish you good luck.

Make sure you have a durable POA. This should permit you to do lot of things. Also if she can give you a specific POA to sell and use the money for her care will back you. Also do a small viedo of such conversation as a back up.

As others have said, each state can be a little different. We sold my mother's house as POA. A good real estate agent should be able to clarify. We had one wrinkle that no one was aware, in that we had to file the POA with the county where the house was located. This was minor and easily fixed. Since the sale of the house impacted her net worth, it impacted her medicaid payments. A good elder care attorney can help with this- most will give a free initial consultation.

suzharrison, I had both a durable POA and medical POA in the state of NY. I was able to sell my mother's co-op apartment without any issues. I dealt directly with the real estate agents/brokers and lawyers. Additionally, I obtained both POAs by downloading the forms on a NYS legal website and having the forms notarized.

Best wishes to you!

We may also be facing that situation soon within our own family. So I'm interested in this, and am following, but my elementary understanding is that she has to be designated as unable to make those sorts of decisions. I don't know whether she has documents set up to designate how that occurs. For our mother, it requires the diagnosis of one physician. We've not yet taken this step.

You're getting lots of great advice here and I'll add my 2 cents. Obviously things differ state to state so check with a lawyer. In September I moved both of my parents into a nursing home. They had been in an apartment for 14 years and I had moved from Ontario Canada where they are to the US so I stayed in Canada until last weekend to clear the apartment, acclimate them to their new surroundings and take them to appointments. I am the POA altho I have to older brothers in Ontario and the lawyer did not love that. (would prefer a POA resides in the same country evidently) In looking over the paperwork I realized that POA was in my previous married name, with an address from the 1990's. Good thing I realized it before I headed home or I would be unable to help them from a distance. The lesson here for everyone is make sure any POA's have current name and address and if they don't, spend the money at the lawyer now, while all parties involved are able to make necessary changes as necessary. Best of luck to you in the journey and put on your seatbelt, the ride gets bumpy!

Read your POA paperwork. It will say if you have authority to buy, sell, transfer, etc. property/investments on her behalf. We had to sell our mom’s house this past summer. I’m in a high demand area, and knew it was worth more than tax assessor value so we had it appraised to make sure it sold for it’s worth as we will be applying for medicaid. Depending on your area, be prepared for it to sale quickly! We ended up with my son buying it, no real estate person had to get involved, so can’t give you any advice there. Armed with our POA forms, we had no trouble working with the investment company to have my mom’s money direct deposited monthly to her checking account to meet her expenses. It is a a local office and the man knew my brother, so that might’ve helped.

Also on selling the home, do you have a realistic view on its value?
If your not used to buying/selling property or gone thru lending, filing at courthouse, etc. it can seem overwhelming at times. I’m guessing this is new to you, so here’s my thoughts based on that viewpoint

Not to to throw shade on Realtors, but I’ve found the comps booklet Realtors give you (to get you to list with them) are skewed to homes with lots of upkeep & recent renovations. So comps are better price point for a listing, which may not be what your mom’s is. You want to find a Realtor that is the right fit for your situation. I’d contact several. Drive around your mom’s hood and note who’s doing listings and who with. Personally I think it’s better to go with an agent with a national group (like Keller Williams). Call a few Realtors and they can all provide you a look through at her home and a comps booklet.

If your mom’s home is more one with decades of delayed maintenance; no renovation with granite countertops and rainfall shower heads in multiple bathrooms; is filled with old lady and old family stuff, rather than “staged”, it is not going to get a top price. You need to price it realistically and that may be NOT at all what Realtor wants to put it at as they are looking for the highest commission = highest price.

If that’s likely, Here’s my suggestions:
- find last tax assessor bill. It should be in fairly recent mail, as most places send a notice/bill out in Oct or Nov as the taxes due January EOM 2019. See what assessor has for land value and house (“improvements”) value. Could it realistically sell for assessor value?
- also pls ck to see she’s current on property taxes. Jan bill is expected to be paid in full unless she has prior set up quarterly or semiannual payment without penalty as an over 65 homeowner. You might be able to get this still done but have to look into this ASAP.
- are there issues - like foundation- that make property unavailable for FHA or VA mortgage? If this seems to be the case, speak clearly with the Realtors as to how easy to sell it via a conventional mortgage. Some Realtors only do FHA/VA lending sales, (90% of sales) so unfamiliar with the extra layers & $$$ conventional needs.
- likely multi page checklist if this is a MLS listing. List goes over all the majors on the property, like roof, electrical, etc. The checklist usually a block Yes, No, Unknown. Check off unknown on all. It’s a CYA for you if buyer comes up with issues right before closing and wants serious price reduction. If Realtor pushes you to not do this, I’d get another Realtor.
- if property has serious deficiencies, you might want mom to have it inspected & appraised before doing a listing. Mom needs to pay for these. It gives you a defined figure to work from. Plus appraisal will have their license & seal on it so good legally to verify why it sold for below assessor value IF Mom should outlive her $ and actually need to apply for Medicaid later on.
- If anything needs to be done, like yard maintenance, mom needs to pay for all from her $. Should you pay for things & reimburse yourself from the sale, Medicaid will likely consider it gifting and place a penalty on her application. She could outlive her $ and apply for Medicaid as NH can easily run 8k - 15k a mo, so you want to be proactively planning for Medicaid on your radar.
- an “As Is” listing with a Realtor, you have to be really beyond firm on this. Often a potential buyer will want things done, like sewer line inspection or mold testing, and will want cost shifted totally onto seller. Your Realtor needs to be in your corner.
- If house has decades of delayed maintenance “as is” can mean selling at just land value. So look at tax assessor bill as to what that is.
- house flippers maybe will pay 30% of assessor value. There’s a lot of bad characters who do this, so beware of what you sign.

How your POA is precisely drawn up can make a difference as to your ability to do & sign off the various documents needed when seeking a house and the lil’ things that go with it (like canceling utilities).

Some POAs are viewed as “springing” and if your is, it will be difficult to get stuff done. Springing DPOAs can be a beast to get things done with.

How old is this POA and was it drawn up by an Atty? If so I’d suggest you call their office to ask if the POA is good for all financials.
If it’s older and was more of a DIY, I’d highly suggest you get it reviewed by an elder law atty and perhaps get all mom’s legal updated. If she’s still living in her home and starting the beginning of dementia, she’s might just might still look & be competent & cognitive to sign off on paperwork if it’s the right time of the day & you’ve done a few drills on what the scene will be.

A better Realtor will have dealt with selling elders homes and they or their back office can review the POA to see if it will be ok for you to sign off on for a listing and the sale.

Her 401k.....if she’s over 70.5 yrs, she should have been taking $ out since she turned 70.5. It’s required.
She’s been doing this already, right??
If not, prepare yourself as there’s going to be a quite nasty fine attached to her 401k. I’d suggest you try to get into her 401k via on online portal if at all possible to see what’s what.

Your POA should have a clause saying you can sell on her behalf. In the state of NJ I just showed my POA to the realtor and I was able to sign papers.

You go to the realtor and they will have the paperwork.