My mother was a huge hoader, and for the last 3 years I have been helping my sister clean out her house (10 dumpsters so far & we're only 1/2 way). But my sister (POT) & her husband have been told me verbally that I could have her house upon her death, and I'm the only person who stays there overnight at all. I live in FL but her house is in IN, so I stay there a couple weeks at a time every several months. So everybody has been treating it as my house, so I didn't know if I had any legal right to the $7,000 I recently found or perhaps splitting it (50/50%) with her estate? My sister took possession of it, but I thought since it was a sizable amount I should check to see if I had any legal claim to it. Her estate is valued at approximately $3,000,000, not including her house. I know any IRS gift under $14,000 would not be taxed, so I wanted to do some research before submitting a proposal to my sister about the $7,000 (if I in fact have any legal claim to all or a portion of it). Thank you for any information that anyone can provide to me regarding this situation.
After a major stroke, i would expect her to require NH care for the rest of her life. Where i am, a mid level NH costs $15000 per month, so 180,000 per year. You may need every penny to keep mom in care.