During my Mothers last will drawn, the Lawyer said because I've been caring for them for 5 years, I was rewarded their present house upon the passing of both parents. My POA brother wants to move my Father and I out, to rent it, putting us into a older home, 1/2 the size of the present one. With my Father being in the middle of dementia, I'm afraid this will set him back tremendously. Not knowing if I will be compensated for 4 years of past care, with the final sale of the house, scares me. Do I have any say to stop this? Many of their assets could be used for upkeep, as this is the reason my brother gives for moving us.
This is very difficult, I am so sorry you, too, seem to have a twisted brother, like my twisted sister, and have to go through this.
However, if my brother tried to move us into a smaller house so he could rent this one out I would ask him what he had been smoking. That's nuts. I agree with others that he just hasn't thought it through.
Does the house at the moment, then, belong to your father? Or does he have only a life interest in it? (If the house had belonged wholly to your mother, she could have made an arrangement to allow your father to remain in the family home as long as he lived but for you to inherit it on his death.)
If the house belongs outright to your father, you have no claim on it.
Your brother's duty is to exercise Power of Attorney to a) serve your father's best interests and b) comply with what he your brother knows to be his your father's wishes. Unfortunately there is often a grey area where it can be difficult to reconcile a) and b).
But your brother cannot sell the house out from under your father without demonstrating that he is doing this to serve your father's welfare - and that means your *father's* welfare, not just your father's *money's* welfare. This is a fine but important distinction that many financially competent people do seem to struggle with. Alas.
If you are able to discuss the situation with your brother, the important point to get across to him is that changes in environment are seriously bad news for people with dementia, and that your Dad ought not to be moved unless it is genuinely necessary. Your father's money and assets must be used to promote your father's welfare; so as long as your father's funds can stretch to it that should mean staying put.
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