I was wondering(think I know) if I could sell our house that is in both names. Husband not able to understand or sign. Need to scale down. How could I do this, or is this impossible.
Wow, asa. I'm just not sure how you might have to go about it. Possibly depends on your states laws. My parents home was jointly owned by them, but they put it in the family trust. We kids arranged its sale while both parents still alive, but Dad was incapacitated with AD. Mom had cancer and was too sick to deal with it, however she was able to approve the sale.
asa, you need to contact an attorney about establishing guardianship and conservancy over your husband. If granted, it will give you the ability to take care of matters such as this. If you don't have anyone who would contest this move, then it is not a big deal...it does, of course, involve lawyer's fees.
We had this exact situation 6 months ago. DW went into a NH, and I wanted to sell our house and move closer to the kids. Found the house, got through the paperwork, and was all set to go. At some point I mentioned to the mortgage person that he was aware that my wife would NOT be at the closing, right? He looked confused. This was not in his gameplan! He said he'd get back to us, as this was not the norm.
We were genuinely concerned. For awhile it looked as if I wasn't going to get to sell the house. I do not understand this. Am I actually the first person in recorded history to need to sell a house when the other owner is incapacitated? You would have thought so, the way they acted. Did it truly look like I was trying to fool my DW by selling a house? I'm not sure what they expected me to do with a Stage 7 AD patient. She couldn't sign anything anyway.
The mortgage agent told me to keep quiet, and bring the POA and any diagnosis information I had. At the closing, when they looked around to see where the wife was, I offered the DPOA, a recent medical report, and the contract with the nursing home. They disappeared for awhile and came back satisfied. They kept the DPOA to file it somewhere, then FedExed it back to me.
What happens if you don't have a DPOA? Make one. Only you and the Good Lord will know, and I can't see Him faulting you for this one. I guess even He wonders why they make caregivers feel like criminals.
Good grief.....that should have been a no-brainer. POAs are used in closing house deals frequently. I worked for a mortgage company and sometimes a spouse would be out of town at time of closing, or in the military, or had moved out of the country for business.
My husband had my POA when we bought our house in California. The house on Long Island, NY had taken much longer to close than expected due to the buyer's mortgage company. The buyers themselves were fine. Our mortgage company gave us a one day extension. Our closing went through while I was in the air between Long Island and Orange County, CA.
Frankly a POA is a no-brainer. But I find that closing companies, like they have in the west, just plan do better than the kinds of everyone around the table closings they do in the East. I've owned 8 houses in 6 states and I think I've seen everything.