My 81 year old single dad was living on his own 6 weeks ago, 2 residences, 9 cars. tractors, guns etc. Had been losing weight, occasional cognitive slip ups but doing pretty good. Always was a sharp guy.
Then suddenly he fell apart- within 72 hours, he was mentally gone and can’t walk.
We are doing all we can for him, but things aren’t great - and we (my sister and I) start sorting out his affairs- trying to figure out his care and the aftermath.
There is a lady we don’t know who is holed up in his primary residence and contends it’s hers, has papers to prove it, etc. Seems the relationship may have been transactional. We get concerned due to the 5 year medicaid lookback law and the potential of her having the house and him being penalized by Medicare/Medicaid for gifting the property. Not cool. She takes an aggressive posture when we approach her and also puts up no trespassing signs. One suggestion was to just talk nicely to her. I laugh til I nearly pee and advise our attorney to proceed with eviction to force her hand to show the document.
We found a will photocopy today. Oddly it mentions nothing but him giving her the property, nothing about anything else.
Hmmm, that is odd. Wills don’t usually cover one asset when someone has a lot of stuff. Sounds coerced. Plus he is still alive. So it is not hers yet if its legit.
Let’s take a closer look. Hmmmm, it is signed by him, and a notary, and ...witnessed by.....her. This is great....in Alabama a will has to be witnessed by 2 parties and the signature of anyone who stands to receive property doesn’t count. At all.
What is the lesson?
First, Watch your parents. If a friend of the family or relative says you need to check on them, you probably do.
Second, Lawyers can be worth the money and if they had not been cheapskates and got one it would have easily stuck. It was likely her idea- a house is worth a a few hundred bucks. At least look online how to do it.
Third, don’t quit easy or give up to soon- one party involved just said “oh shes got a deed, well let’s not fight it.”
Uh, no. If she had a deed she would likely record it - even though there is no time limit in our state.
Lastly, while some family members were getting advice from acquaintances, Andy decides fast- this is a job for a pro and hires a real estate attorney and an elder law firm. That know each other. Fast.
Now, to balance this out- Dad was likely competent at the time and for some reason likely wanted to do this- he had mentioned it. Now what Dad would want is someone to change his diaper and check his catheter- and his youngest son is going to see he gets the care he is entitled to with the money he earned, and that my sister survives this ordeal. Had the lady acted nice and been someone we even knew and liked, and had no criminal record or pattern of these type actions, and not taken a nasty posture, despite legalities I would have respected Dad’s wishes and let her have the place when he passed. My sister concurs.
Now it is just going to be too much fun to do that. At this point it is about what is best for him, and I’m up for it- big time.
Will keep you posted.
Then suddenly he fell apart- within 72 hours, he was mentally gone and can’t walk.
We are doing all we can for him, but things aren’t great - and we (my sister and I) start sorting out his affairs- trying to figure out his care and the aftermath.
There is a lady we don’t know who is holed up in his primary residence and contends it’s hers, has papers to prove it, etc. Seems the relationship may have been transactional. We get concerned due to the 5 year medicaid lookback law and the potential of her having the house and him being penalized by Medicare/Medicaid for gifting the property. Not cool. She takes an aggressive posture when we approach her and also puts up no trespassing signs. One suggestion was to just talk nicely to her. I laugh til I nearly pee and advise our attorney to proceed with eviction to force her hand to show the document.
We found a will photocopy today. Oddly it mentions nothing but him giving her the property, nothing about anything else.
Hmmm, that is odd. Wills don’t usually cover one asset when someone has a lot of stuff. Sounds coerced. Plus he is still alive. So it is not hers yet if its legit.
Let’s take a closer look. Hmmmm, it is signed by him, and a notary, and ...witnessed by.....her. This is great....in Alabama a will has to be witnessed by 2 parties and the signature of anyone who stands to receive property doesn’t count. At all.
What is the lesson?
First, Watch your parents. If a friend of the family or relative says you need to check on them, you probably do.
Second, Lawyers can be worth the money and if they had not been cheapskates and got one it would have easily stuck. It was likely her idea- a house is worth a a few hundred bucks. At least look online how to do it.
Third, don’t quit easy or give up to soon- one party involved just said “oh shes got a deed, well let’s not fight it.”
Uh, no. If she had a deed she would likely record it - even though there is no time limit in our state.
Lastly, while some family members were getting advice from acquaintances, Andy decides fast- this is a job for a pro and hires a real estate attorney and an elder law firm. That know each other. Fast.
Now, to balance this out- Dad was likely competent at the time and for some reason likely wanted to do this- he had mentioned it. Now what Dad would want is someone to change his diaper and check his catheter- and his youngest son is going to see he gets the care he is entitled to with the money he earned, and that my sister survives this ordeal. Had the lady acted nice and been someone we even knew and liked, and had no criminal record or pattern of these type actions, and not taken a nasty posture, despite legalities I would have respected Dad’s wishes and let her have the place when he passed. My sister concurs.
Now it is just going to be too much fun to do that. At this point it is about what is best for him, and I’m up for it- big time.
Will keep you posted.
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