He deeded the house to me over a year ago. My aunt (his sister) came in a few weeks ago after being assigned power of attorney through DHS, but I had already been his power of attorney. She said he was not being taken care of properly because he was living alone. Now the lawyer is breathing down my neck trying to get me to sign the deed back to my dad for DHS. We own the house outright, no taxes because it's grandfathered. What do I do?
as Fawnby said, calling at 9pm is ridiculous. Lawyers don't do that.
in the meantime, contact a lawyer a new lawyer..as grsndma2954 said.
get a lawyer you can trust. Get a business cards from your lawyer.
if auntie's lawyer starts knocking on your door, simply give him your lawyer's card. Please call my lawyer, and shut the door.
in the meantime check on dad. need to hire extra caregivers now to fill in a void? start looking around..
read the posts here.. there is a lot of great information.
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1. He changes it. (If he is cometent)
2. The Court steps in and decides that the current POA is not doing what they should be doing.
If the Court got involved you and your dad should have gotten a Certified Letter giving the Court Date.
If your dad is not competent the court will not appoint another POA the court will appoint a Guardian.
Contact an Elder Care Attorney ASAP. If possible the one that did original POA papers. (unless this is the one that is now calling you at 9PM)
OK...just read that your Aunts lawyer is the same one that your dad used...You NEED ANOTHER LAWYER THAT REPRESENTS YOU.
Don't allow a lawyer to coerce you into signing anything. Get your own lawyer to advise you.
If its felt that Dad needs 24/7care in a facility, you may have to turn the house back over. If Medicaid is needed within 5 years of turning over a house, Medicaid can ask for the house to be turned back over because its an asset that can be sold for the persons care or for Medicaid recovery when they pass. If this is your main residence and you have been living with and caring for Dad, you maybe able to get a Caregiver Allowance which allows u to stay in the house.
If this lawyer breathing down your neck is not hired by you, you need to get one of your own to make sure you do everything right. I suggested an Elder Lawyer because the are versed in Medicare law.
I agree that you need to hire a new attorney since we aren't lawyers and can't give you any other useful information. How should we know why your current lawyer is calling you at 9pm?
However, if your father needs Medicaid-funded nursing care within five years of deeding the house to you, he won't qualify because he gave away ("gifted") an asset that could have been sold to pay for his care if needed.
"We" don't own the house outright; YOU do. So check if the "no taxes" applies to you or only your grandfather.
Were you using the POA at the time he deeded the house to you? If so, did it have language that the POA became active only if your father was incompetent? If so, then he could not give you the house because he was incompetent. You can't have it both ways. Allowing or helping him to deed the house to you after you had used the POA due to his incompetence would be considered self-enrichment and not allowed.