My mom is in a real estate property nightmare with a sibling. A house they inherited from their parents is finally for sale and it will take a miracle. They split the expenses but it is costly. Mom is not in good health and is tired of the responsibility as the property is six hours round trip away. She is wondering if she can legally just give her half to charity? I told her this would affect for 5 years if she ever needs Medicaid but she is in a mess now and the 5 year waiting game may arrive in one year or ten, so you really can't plan your life around it. I know joint property laws are specific per state for spouses but where do siblings stand?
There is an exception if a property is transferred to a sibling, however: There is no penalty for a transfer of a home to a sibling who has an equity interest in the home if the sibling resided in the home for at least one year immediately preceding the other sibling (i.e., your mom) entering the nursing home.
So your mom could simply wait until she enters the nursing home and then deed her interest to her sister, without penalty. To be sure this can be done, it would be adviable for your mom to sign a durable power of attorney specifically authorizing this and appointing someone else with the legal authority to sign the deed if she is unable to do so for any reason.
There are lots of smart people here, but in the end, you'll need a lawyer.
Can we get an update of what's going on behind the scenes before we spend more time commenting here?
The house is for sale with a realtor. It was with this last time that my mom was asked to sign to be able to sign the house that we learned the house had been listed twice before with a realtor and twice in the paper without my mom's knowledge. Due to long term caregiving with my mom having the majority of the responsibility and her brother's attitude, the relationship has been gone for decades.
My mom is just in her early 70's but is legally blind with other health problems. I have no clue if she would need a nursing home in 6 months or a decade. She is just wanting to get out from under the burden if the expenses if it doesn't sell.