am told to hide funds from mortgage

my sister in law told my husband and I she has power of attorney for our mother in law she and her husband want us to take a note out on the house we have lived in for 7 years and will go to us at the time of my mother in law's death. She and her husband told us we have to take out a mortgage for at least 25000 and put it in a special account so that the house will go to us earily and they want the money in an account the rest home can't find and they will be in charge of the money and if we don't do this they will sell our house out from under us because it is in my mother in laws name until the time of her death and it will be deeded to us.But withoout our knowledge my husband's brother's wife now has power of attorney. We are very upset and scared we have put in thousands of dollars and labor into making this home ours.I am 55 my husband is 60. We don't want to do anything illegal and my mother in law is too sick to talk to what can we do. Thankyou

[kat1963]

Okay, I think this is pretty common, estate planning. You see, if she needs long term care, all of her assets including the house will have to be exhausted before medicare will take over. It sounds like they want you to take a mtg. on the house (putting it in your name) to keep it from being liquidated. You do want this house right? You don't want to pay inheritence tax right? The 25 grand is either going to be their share of the estate, or will go to pay the nursing facility for like the first year or so..sounds pretty cheap for a house to me! Plus you get to deduct mtg interest from your taxes. Note I'm pretty sure this has to be done (according to the law) something like 3 years in advance..you can probably find this information on the web. As for them having a POA, well, if your mom is that ill, someone needs to make the decisions...which I can tell you are NOT easy and certainly not fun...heck, I could think of better things like sticking pins in my eyes perhaps. If she really wanted to be a B, the house would be sold and you guys would be SOL. Unless there is more to this story I can't seem to find an ulterior motive.
Good Luck.
KAT

The problem is they don't want to use the money to help her. They have taken her other home and turned it into a rental property. We have had our home (which is deeded to us in the will)for over 7years. We have completely remodeled the home and have put a lot of money into it. They have already turned the house(the newer home not ours) over to themselves(P.O.A.) and are now renting it out. They took out a mortgage on it and hid the money in a seperate account.under another name this can't be legal. We have talked to a lawyer and the law allows one house in her name so we don't have the problem of losing it that way. We have the problem of being told to take out this sum give it to their account or risk the sister in law of removing our name from the will and taking the house. Also we have been putting sums of money for some time into my mother in laws account and since the power of attorney(again iwithout our knowledge)the account is emptied accoriding to the sister in law unexpected bills but no proof.We feel as if we are being blackmailed to do something illegal also my brother and sister in law told us they are deep im debt and might lose their home they have 3 mortgages 2 car payments and 6 credit card bills. We don't know what to do.

[kat1963]

Oh boy...I don't know what else to say, but I do feel so sorry for you. My Uncle (by marriage) went thru the same thing with his elderly father and younger brother...who ended up with EVERYTHING by the way. The father just happened to fall out of a second story window a few days after he changed his will & transfered property (when was the last time you heard of that happening eh?). He fought, but basically there was nothing that could be done....once they get those POA's, whew, it's awful hard to change. What is your lawyer saying? Yes, it does sound like blackmail to me, for sure. I think I'd get the house in my name ASAP or those greedy people will figure out how to sell it right out from under you. I wouldn't want to give them a nickle either..but once it's done, it's done and they can't do anything about it in the future. I'd be totally done with them on a personal level also. The money is only going to be a quick fix for them, in the end they will fail and lose it all. I sure wish there was something else I could say to you. They are going to have to face all their evil deeds when they meet their maker one day and I for one would not want to be in their shoes when they do (though, I'd certainly like to be there to watch!).
Good Luck guys...hopefully someone else will be able to give you legal advice on how to handle this situation. Some people are so cold and heartless it just slays me...and relatives too boot!
KAT

If I understand you correctly the house is not in your name yet. How do they want you totake out a note or mortgage if it isnot in your name. Is the intent to pretend to sell it to you? If so, I understand wht they are doing. HOwever, papers have to be drawn up. Also, she will have to prove where the moeny is once your mother in law passes on if you purchased the house within the last three years of her death.

I am in th eporces of tryng to do wht is best to save tax money with my estate. I have two children who are minors and I am very ill.

IF she is turning the house ove to you then I would doit. Would she be selling it to you and letting you keep the money you borrowed to buy it? If so, she is just trying to keep the inheritance taxes down.

Do you have to turnt the moeny you borrow over to the estate? If so, if she is so much in debt that could be the reason why. Also you must get an appraised value on th ehouse. The IRS will not allowe the house to be sold for less then market value. Be careful with that one. IF that is the cse, make sure you get an apprqaisal onthe house. Most agents will work with you for a low ball figure. Have it in writing by two or three realtors. IF she says you paid cash and took a 25g mortagage and she is executor of the estate it will be her problem. HOwever, ultimatley you will suffer as well. Good luck. Hope it helps.

We are not sure of what my brother and sister in law are trying to do. I do know that my mother in law will have to go to a rest home soon. My brother in law made a comment that at the bank where they went the person handling their loan was angry because of the account that they set up. Apparently even though they took a mortgage out on my mother in laws new house for 25000, they did not put it in her name. If in fact they are "buying" it from her this is her money and should go into her account. If we get a mortgage on our house(actually it is a trailer that we built a large addition on to)this money should go into her account. She needs certain medical treatment and the extra money would certainly help her. My husband asked his brother how would their mother get to her money if it wasn't in her name and he said oh they would put it out a little at a time. We feel this is wrong and might not be there when she needs it. Also the new house they turned into a rental property supposedly for her so she would have an income but their children are in there and they havn't paid;first because one had a fight with a roommate another needed money for a car payment; this was not the deal income from the rented house is suppose to go to her. We don't mind taking out a mortgage as long as the money goes directly to her. The home we have is willed to us at time of her death.

[kat1963]

Sounds to me they have already run thru that 25 grand they took out to *help mom* in the first place and there isn't any more so now they are scrambling for ways to pay for her treatment. Since the house is willed to you, tell them to stuff it. I could see if this was some sort of estate planning, and clearly it is...just not your mothers estate! *LOL* Get them to put in writting about the 25 grand they want you to borrow and where they expect you to put it...get it all in writting...cause I have this feeling that if you don't do what you are *told*, they will try and evict you from that house...by the way, where is Mom and who is caring for her?
KAT

my mother in law was talked into going into an assisted care home because the doctor told her she needed 24 hour care(her mind is ok but she has a lot of medical problems)This was done within 48 hours of the doctor's visit(my sister in law lives next door and she had taken her to the doctors. I think they had this planned because how else could they get her a place like that so fast? My husband tried to talk my mother in law out of it but she made up her mind because my brother in law the UPS/preacher told her they would take care of the house and rent it so she would have an income.Now she is getting sicker and they are trying to put her in a nursing home;she has a colostomy and diapetes possibly cancer they are doing a biopsy this week.She doesn't know about the money not going into her account nor does she know that the rent money was not put in. I am kind of in the middle;my husband wants to handle it and I think he should really stand up to his brother. He did try to talk to his mom but she so trusts his brother and sister in law that we can't make her understand what is happening she keeps saying oh they won't get your house ...we have an appointment tuesday with a lawyer to see what are options are I don't know if we have enough money for an attorney but we will know more later. I can't believe there are people this greedy in the world. And in the end after they have run through everything they will be looking for more!

[kat1963]

Oh, I'd run to a lawyer!! Make a list of questions before you go so that nothing is left out. I'm sure it will be worth the consulation fee and hopefully put your mind at ease! Your husband..well, he's like mine (and alot of other*LOL*)...they call it denial (Lauren Hutton says this really well in her commercials). I think women have better intution for these sorts of the things (dealing with evil people)...or maybe we think too much...this is driving you crazy isn't it....hubby seems almost uneffected right? He just has to bottom line...listen, we'll pay half of Moms care and take a loan or mtg against the property to pay for it if need be, but ya' ain't getting your grubby hands on anything else. Do you know if medicaid is picking up the bills yet? If so, any additional expense should be minimal...I think it was about $300 a month for my grandmom once that kicked in (it was $4,500 per month without it) And you are right about the fast placement. Granny had to be admitted to the hospital and was there for 3 weeks before they had a vacancy (it was the only way to get in, transfer from the hospital even though she didn't need to be there) and the same thing with my former bosses father soon after and my mothers father too and that one was 17 years ago.
This is so sad, yet so common. My parents must have witnessed alot of this for their will say....sell everything, pay the bills then split what is left if anything 4 ways you greedy brats (kidding on the last part). I know I could never, ever do to someone what they are doing to you guys...and all the other spiteful, evil, money grubbing actions I've seen in the past few years alone...makes me sick!!
You know you are going to have to make the appointment right? So ahhh heck, get it over with and tell Hubby it's just for information only! *S*
Good luck to you! Please post what the lawyer says! I'm crossing my fingers it's good news!
Kindest regards;
KAT

My question to this dilemma is this...You say that you were told these people have power of attorney...have they shown you any LEGAL proof of this???

Yeah, there is a power of attorney registered at the town hall I went and got a copy of it to bring to the lawyers. My mother in law has no idea that all the money is gone this is so awful for her. My husband and I talked about bringing her to the house I have no nurses training and she has a clostomy bag needs insulin shots 3 times a day and breathing treatments 1 to 4 times a day. I wish I were a nurse I would do it. I have talked to several home care providers and they do not do clostomy or things like that she does get social security but it is a bit over the limit so she has medicare not medicade. I talked to several private nursing places and they are almost as expensive as her being in a rest home.I have tried home health care and they don't do clostomy bags either. It is a very nasty messy thing unless the patient is doing it herself. You can get sick too handling the stuff there is also an ordor attached to it that can get bad at times I don't know what to do I feel so sorry for her.If my brother and sister in law did what they were suppose to do she would have some money in the bank to get her into a nice place. We are waiting to see if our mortgage goes through. That will help some. I don't know what to do its my husban's mother and he and his brother is letting My sister in law run the show I have tried to help but instead of supporting me all my husband is doing is yelling at me it should be his brother he should be yelling at not me. But we will see what the lawyer says.

hey Kat you hit the nail on the head you could put Miss Cleo out of business! Everything you said is 100 percent plus my husband is taking a lot out on me instead of confronting his brother. I will post whatever the lawyers say next week. Hope there is a good conclusion to all this. My motherinlaw was an active independant woman with a wicked sense of humor I hate seeing her like this. Thankyou for all your kind words.