Signing Over a Deed to the Grandchildren

[PlumbJess]

My grandmother is very ill and my cousin recently contacted me with some concerns about my grams estate. My mother was previously executor of the will which states that the estate is to be shared between living siblings (our parents, etc). However, my mother passed executor duties to my aunt when she moved to alaska for a temporary working assignment. We're originally (and all but my mother are currently residing in) Texas.

Question one: Does our aunt have the right, because she is executor as well as power of attorney for my gramma, to sell the home outright, regardless of the will? Or dish out any inheritance as she sees fit?

My cousin as well as myself and our parents do not wish the house to be sold off, however, our aunt has expressed a firm course of action that the estate be split -- sold and money dispersed, basically.

We do not want to upset my gram, so we do not want to bring up her daughters ideas of selling this house and her belongings. These may be the last few months of her life.

Question two: Can she sign the deed over to more than one person, so that should issues of the house come up again, there will be more than one power to deal with? IE someone cannot just up and get rid of the house later, either, unless the deed holders should all agree?

Question three: If gram will sign the deed over to us (the grandchildren), might there be repercussions involving legal matters later, if my aunt should be outraged that she was not aware of the proceedings? (From the way its going with her ideals now, she will be enraged!)

Are we totally off the mark? Is there another way to protect the house? The house of which I speak I currently live in -- am paying to live in! The house is very old and has immense sentimental value to our family, but other than selling it, we don't have any money with which to go to court over the home if there is conflict. Because I inhabit this house, I also do not want to be evicted until I am finished with my degree.... If I can help it. And I'm not sure how much time my gram has left. Is there a way to continue to keep this house in our family? Will this help us?

[lwpat]

Several family members can get together and purchase the house from the estate with their share. You can have the gradmother execute a new will but that might be contested under capacity and undue influence. Same problem with doing a deed unless she deeds it to all of the beneficiaries. This could mean a tax problem since there will be no step up in value and there might be a gift tax issue as well.

[aaron]

Is your grandmother no longer mentally competent? Is anybody asking what she wants?

If this is your grandmother's principal residence, there could be some serious issues raised by the sale of the house, such as the proceeds being attached to reimburse the state for Medicare and Medicaid expenses. Your aunt should consult a Medicare planning professional about the ramifications of her plan.