What has your Real Estate attorney said about this?Nancy Anne said:What is the name of your state? South Carolina I am currently, and for the last three years , have been taking care of my 88-year old mother, and have full power of attorney. My mother owned ten acres of family land which she "gave away" to a care-giver in 2002. However, she retained a life estate on this property and I pay taxes on this parcel yearly. My question is, do we have the right to sell the timber off this land to help offset her rising medical costs?
what exactly do you mean "gave away". Did she sell or gift the land and what does the DEED say exactly as to ownership?Nancy Anne said:What is the name of your state? South Carolina I am currently, and for the last three years , have been taking care of my 88-year old mother, and have full power of attorney. My mother owned ten acres of family land which she "gave away" to a care-giver in 2002. However, she retained a life estate on this property and I pay taxes on this parcel yearly. My question is, do we have the right to sell the timber off this land to help offset her rising medical costs?
Unless you can prove that your mother, AT THE TIME of the transfer, suffered from Dementia (and can document such) or that the receiving party exerted undue influence over your mother, then you have no case to defeat the transfer.Nancy Anne said:What was meant was that the girl "sat" for Mother on occasion for about 2 months and in the meantime, talked her into giving her the land when Mother passes away (my Mother has Dementia and is easy to persuade to do things). She drove Mother to an attorney and Mother sold her the land for $ 5.00 . There is a Life Estate on the property for the remainder of Mama's natural life, the deed is still in her name (with Life Estate following her name on the tax notices ). I believe that the mention of the $5.oo in the paperwork was some sort of a legal necessity, with no money actually changing hands. I hope this info helps you.
the answer to that is no. She does not own the land.Nancy Anne said:I have given up trying to get Mama's land back in the family, however, I would like to know if the timber could be cut to generate a little more money for her use, as it is becoming very much needed.
when was your mother diagnosed with dementia? Was this dianosis from her family doctor or admittance to a hospital?Nancy Anne said:I have given up because I was fighting an expensive uphill battle. My mother doesn't even remember this girl, she has no memory of even visiting the lawyer's office in 2002, the attorney that did the paperwork says "she looked o.k. to me and I'll swear to it in court ' and the band played on in this case. It's safe to say that this girl did what she did and got away with it. At this late date, and without any memory on Mama's part, I'm up the creek. Just for general info, a week after the papers were signed, the girl didn't show up to feed Mama, and she was found unconscious by her front door with a blood sugar level of 44 (she's Diabetic, also). This girl NEVER showed up again. This is when I stepped in and moved her in with me and have taken care of her ever since. When the tax notices showed up for that year with "Life Estate" tacked onto it is when I found out what had transpired. It was a done deal and recourse costs more that we can afford right now. I just know that God doesn't like this sort of thing and this girl will get hers in the end, I'm sure. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question, all of you who responded.
then you need to discuss (at a minimum) with the attending physician how long she had been or could be confirmed with dementia.Nancy Anne said:My mother was diagnosed approx. 6months after I found her in her doorway. She was diagnosed after being admitted to the hospital (terrible , irrational behavior, anger issues, the whole nine yards). As luck would have it, she had already given POA to me since she could no longer see to read or sign checks for herself. She had not been diagnosed at the signing of the legal papers. We just chalked all of her behavior up to that point up to her age (89 this year). Our mistake. I had no clue she was ill at that point.