My sister was power of attorney when my mother got ill and put in nursing home. Funds were getting low for my mothers care. So my sister sol...

Question

My sister was power of attorney when my mother got ill and put in nursing home. Funds were getting low for my mothers care. So my sister sold my mothers car. Which was a Special Directive to me and my brother. She put the money in my mothers bank account amount she got was $5700.00. My mother passed when she pasted there was $8,000. in her account. And money from sales of house was added to account. She did not sell her Special directive which was dining room set and china closet. The estate attorney is telling my brother and i we are not entitled to the proceeds from the car. because she sold it before my mother past. and the directive was for the car and not the money.

Answer

You don't ask a question. What the heck is a "special directive?" There is a will or there is not one. I have never heard of a "special directive." There is such a thing as a specific bequest in a will. However, such a bequest does not possess magical powers. It does not matter what the will said prior to death - it can be changed. If your mother was getting low on assets, it may have been reasonable to sell the car and use those funds for your mother's benefit. If that is what happened, then its too bad, but you do not get the car or the proceeds.

Once your mother passed, her will became operative at that point. The duty of the personal representative (the power of attorney ended upon your mother's death) would be to pay the just debts of the estate and then distribute whatever is left as per the will. If a bequest in the will was given away or sold for whatever reason, then the bequest is considered "adeemed" and it is if no such bequest were ever made.

Again, I am sorry, but a will does not give you any rights to claim any of your mother's property. It was your mother's property to do with as she pleased. It was better to sell assets than risk Medicaid and any liens, so if it was done for this purpose, I cannot find fault with it.

However, if you think that your sister was abusing her powers under the power of attorney, then you need to hire your own attorney and pay him or her a fee to review the matters and to help you decide whether the sale of the car was reasonable or not. If it was not and your sister ultimately benefitted by liquidating assets as she would inherit under the will, then perhaps you need to pursue an action against your sister. We are not talking about a great deal of money if this is all that your mother had. Litigation is very costly and unless you are very likely to prevail, I would carefully weigh the costs and benefits.