My husband and I along with my bil live together. The mortgage is in his name. All 3 of us are on a quick claim deed registered with the county. My husband has made all the mortgage payments for the last 3 1/2 years. We have been his caregivers for all this time and we will be moving him into a VA medical foster home next week, all has been approved and ready to go. My husband has DPOA over finances and health. So, our questions and concerns are can we sell this house,or buy it from him, or just stay here keep making the mortgage payments as we have been doing until we want to leave? At that time just let the bank have the house? We have been so fortunate to get him in this VA home, all that's left is this house situation. We are eager to hear your advice. Thanks in advance.
Your best bet is to talk to an Elder Law Attorney to see what would be the best approach... selling or buying out your brother's share, or handing over the keys to the mortgage company.
Also..if this happened in the last 5 years...Medicaid can come to you and require you pay out of pocket for Dad.
You need an attorney to help you through this process. Elder law and medicaid law are complex enough for you to seek legal council
If so, then nobody owns the property, ownership is still held by the mortgage co. so the QCD from bil to you & hubs is flawed. You cannot sell or transfer what you do not own. BIL does not own house.
Mortgage co doesn't give a rats butt who pays mortgage. The crediting on the mortgage payments go to BIL as he is the one the mortgage agreement is with.
Another problem is going to be with his VA cost of care recovery. For those on Medicaid, the state is required to attempt a recovery on all costs of care paid from the assets of their estate. It's called MERP. A house would be an asset of the estate.
VA now - I'm pretty sure- also has this requirement. So although BIL can keep the house which is held in a mortgage 100% in his name & you can keep paying his mortgage BUT once BIL dies that house becomes an asset of his estate. VA can ask for repayment of his costs of care which means $ from the sale of the home. Those payments you made probably don't factor in as it's not your property. If you have been BIL full time caregiver, you could file for an exemption to recovery but you may have to provide documentation as to that caregiving.
This is pretty complicated & you all need to get an eider law atty who understands the VA system & it's recovery process & to figure out how if even possible to have those payments made on the house from here on out work in your favor once BIL dies.
If the mortgage is still pretty large, once BIL dies the entire amount will likely come due (like maybe 60 day settlement) so none of this even matters as property will have to be sold with mortgage co getting paid first (secured creditor) and then VA recovery unit paid next unless you have your own claim. For your own claim, that something to discuss with your own atty. If theres still years & years on the mortgage & realistically you could not pay mortgage off completely AND qualify for caregiver exemption, well then personally I'd look at the mortgage $ as rent and save $ to move, and let house eventually default on mortgage. Its not yours, not your credit score. Yeah it's harsh but if the $ is not there to pay off mortgage when BIL dies, house will default anyways. It will be a hot mess between mortgage co and VA recovery unit to figure out.