Mom is in Assisted living and has the financial assets to keep her home and wants to use it for holidays, summers, weekends, and for her seasonal clothes and decorations. Mom does NOT want to sell the house, but my sister is really pushing for it.
What legal stance does my mom have -- she is not incompetent but needs to live most of the time in assisted facility. She wants to keep it, on the side, while she can and while she is alive. How do I intervene if needed?
Get a copy of the POA. Look up articles on what having a POA means. Sit down and talk with Sis, show her the articles, help her understand the limits of her authority. This may not stop her "pushing for it." She can try to convince Mom to change her mind, but it is Mom's decision, and all of you should recognize that.
My aunt kept her house when she went into a long term care center. The family had a couple of holidays there, but having the house sit empty was not really ideal. They rented it to a family with young children, which pleased my aunt. Eventually they sold the house.
The house can be sold anytime. It may become clear to Mom that paying property taxes and insurance and keeping the house up while it is mostly empty doesn't make sense. But it makes sense to her now, so I'd say, "What's the hurry?"
has your mom done any estate planning? If not, that would be very wise. If the POA change is made one clause to consider adding is her wishes about paying family members for her care. This becomes a major issue in many families which breaks up siblings when one does the care, and others just watch hoping there will not be negative effects on inheritance.
Also, as your mom is competent, she does not need to change the POA to prevent the house from being sold. She just has to say no.
he always was sort of a crook tho.