What can I do?

[no1dolo]

What can I do? I'm losing my mind. I've lived in a duplex and raised my kids here for 26 years. My mother who owns the house turns 94 next week. She has been ill off and on the last few years - strokes, etc. I and my daughter have been her caretakers. She has our complete love.
There is no mortgage. Now I've found out that back taxes haven't been paid and unless I can come up with $9000, the house will be sold at auction in a couple of weeks. I'm sure the tax notices got lost between my Mom going to the hospital and rehab when she was I'll. My mom is not mentally capable of doing anything to save our home. I'm at a loss!
I've call the tax office - no payment plan possible. Called agencies, friends and relatives. No one has the money to loan me. I would gladly pay it back.
I don't know how we've ended up this way. My disabled daughter can move in with her brother. It won't be a happy situation but she will be safe. My mother can go into a nursing home (already started process). Not many places will take 3 dogs. If you aren't a dog lover, you won't understand why I'd rather live in my van than consider any other option.
Most of all, this is my home. Even when I'm not crying, my eyes hurt from when I was crying. I need help. Sorry if this was a long drawn out story. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Just to add. This home was purchased by my parents. I consider it her home but the property was put into a trust for them over 10 yrs ago so it won't be taken from her by Medicare or the nursing home. My father passed about 10 yrs ago.

[Coolest Ranger]

1. I am so sorry for your situation

have you tried calling a tax specialist?

[NNN0LHI]

2. Sorry to hear this

Did you ever consider checking with the county revenue dept to make sure the taxes were being paid. Or not?

Someone had to be taking care of her finances while she was in the hospital, nursing home, and such. Whomever was doing that had to see a tax bill come due and certainly would have paid it. Usually the nursing home and hospital need to be in contact with this person for billing and other stuff.

Don

[glowing]

3. try to take out a mortgage on the amount owed, or a small personal loan.

The town doesn't want to help you out with the taxes because the residence is mortgage free. Its free auction money on the home. The home has to have value. A small mortgage of $10,000.00 against the home would make the payments rather small spread out over 5 or 10yrs (if you were the one to inherit the property when your mother passes), it would seem to me that a bank would loan the money (if you defaulted on the mortgage, the bank would have a relatively small amount to make up if they had to sell the property as a foreclosed property). This is what I would do. And interest rates are very low for mortgages at this time.

Edit: Also, if you are putting your mother in a home, please take any tangible assets like her home, savings, checking accounts out of her name and into your own. This way the nursing home/ medicaid cannot try to take all of her life's savings away from her before she passes. (It depends on the state, but some will insist on taking payment from home value once she has passed or before she may enter into a home). Do all the asset transfers before you put her into a home. It will make it easier, as well, once she does pass. My mother and aunt assumed my grandmother's assets before she was too far along with her terminal cancer illness. This way, there wasn't a bunch of paperwork or "will fighting" when she did pass. My grandmother chose how she intended for the assets to be split thru the family. AND there wasn't a medicaid/ medicare bill attatched to her when she was under hospice care toward the end.

[pipoman]

4. Nursing homes are expensive..

here they start at around $4k/mo (in my area) for very basic assisted living and go up from there. How will this be paid? If she will be on medicaid at the nursing home, the state will require liquidation of her assets before they begin paying..regardless who is living in her house, I believe it will have to be sold to qualify for medicaid..

[galileoreloaded]

5. Who is the trustee, who is the beneficiary?

Lets start there.