If there is anyone who is an attorney or if you work in the law enforcement, I need an answer. My elderly mom was at my sister's home when mom had a UTI and my sister took mom to the hospital and after the hospital stay, mom was took to physical therapy rehab for 6weeks. During this time mom asked my sister time after time to bring her car and her personal belongings that was in the car, and park the car in the parking lot. But she would not, now that mom is out of rehab she still refuses to bring it back to her after mom has asked her over and over again. She now wants to charge mom $200.00 for the car sitting on her property and will not let mom pick it up without the money. What can mom do to get her car back, she is the sol owner of her car and has the tittle.
Also is Mom even capable of driving ?
Maybe she shouldn’t have the car if she may drive when she shouldn’t. In that case the car could be sold .
If that doesn’t work , a lawyer would be the next step .
You Mom needs to bring the car title with her. If she can't find the title she'll need to get a duplicate at the DMV since she won't be able to sell it without the title anyway.
As others have suggested it might be a good idea to have another driver in this situation in case your Mom becomes too upset.
If sister approaches your Mom and physically prevents her from getting into her own car, call 911 right in front of her and report it as stolen. If your Mom doesn't have a spare key (not even a valet key which is not electric) then you'll have to demand the key from sister. Sister's story of being owed money as the reason to hold her car hostage won't mean anything to the police if your Mom has the car title with her (because money owed is a civil matter and car theft is a crime matter). Proof of ownership is all she needs.
Before she drives away with her car, make sure to check the contents to make everything is still in it. Take pics/video of contents. Even check inside the trunk. Go with a set of jumper cables If the car doesn't start because it's been sitting there unused.
Don't go there unless your Mom is ready and willing to call the cops on her. Then be prepared for her to never talk to you again.
That said: WHY is it sister is not allowing mom to take the car, and seems to feel that she is entitled to this car, or at least to a storage fee? Had mom been living with sis for a long time and not contributing to household expenses? Did your sister help pay for maintenance/upkeep on the car (insurance, repairs, routine maintenance, etc)? Did mom promise her this car as repayment of some sort? Has this "sense of entitlement" been your sister's pattern all her life, or is this something recent? Because you state in your profile that mom has dementia, and if sis has been mom's primary caregiver for some time, I can see where mom might have promised her the car and now can't remember that she did so.
Also, how far into dementia is mom? Could this be a matter of your sister feels mom is no longer capable of driving safely, and this is a way to keep the car away from her? Because we see the question all the time in the forum "how do I keep my parent with dementia from driving anymore?" and this would certainly be a way to keep that from happening. Certainly, mom's insistence to have her car during her 6 weeks in rehab parked in the parking lot with all of her belongings doesn't sound quite "right" to me. It sounds suspiciously like the paranoia of someone with moderate to severe dementia. If that's the case, you might want to take a pause and reconsider mom getting her car back. In fact, for mom's sake, you might just want to side with your sister in this instance.
Sister cannot sell the car without a title. Another way to get it is to have a tow truck go and get it at night. Boy, sister has nerve charging Mom to park her car there.