Clarkston, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If someone has a power of attorney that gives them the power to sell the home, they can do this. You may need to petition the court to be named conservator so you can handle financial matters. In either case, you must act only in your mother's best interests, and manage her money to get the best care for her. If she will spend a long time in assisted living, it is likely that she will spend all her assets for her care. Incidentally "diagnosed with dementia" does not mean incapacitated. You should continue to the extent possible to involve your mother in decisions and respect her wishes.

Powers of Attorney are given by a person to their agent. If one is incapacitated, he is no longer able to give up those powers. That means that your father would not be able to assign you as his agent under a Powers of Attorney. The only way you would be able to take care of his medical and financial decisions on his behalf would be through a Guardianship / Conservatorship. Since these are court actions, you may want to discuss the procedures with an attorney knowledgeable in this area.

Any given trust or estate should only have one address. Figuring out which one that should be depends on what you're dealing with. A Living Will does not have an address; it's simply a document that says what its maker wants done (or not done) with regard to his health care if he is in a medical situation that is believed to be hopeless and meets certain other conditions. After the death of the creator of a Revocable Trust, the trust will use the NEW trustee's address, NOT the old trustee's address. As for the probate estate of a person who split their residence between multiple states, you have to figure out which state was the principal residence and that will be where the main probate has to take place, if a probate is needed (if the revocable trust was correctly and fully funded and there are no beneficiary designations that would point assets to the probate estate, a probate may not be needed). The principal residence is called the "domicile." Determining the domicile of a deceased person is not always easy where they had residences in multiple states. You look at factors such as: where the driver's license was held, where cars were registered, where the person registered to vote, where they had memberships in clubs, religious organizations, and similar groups, what address the person used for federal income tax filing purposes, and where he spent most of the year. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, it's more a weighing of factors. BUT the address that is used for the primary probate is NOT the estate's address, necessarily- the estate will use the address of the person who is appointed as its executor. I hope this is helpful. However, please consult an attorney in person to help you figure out exactly where any probate might be needed and what state should be considered the domicile, as well has to help you with any estate and trust admininstration. Best wishes to you.