My friend is the sole caregiver and has POA for an 88 year old woman with dementia. She has taken care of this lady for the last 8 years. For the first few years, it was as a part time assistant, but since 2017 it has become a 24 hour job. The only financial assistance she receives is the lady’s retirement check, which is 700$ and mostly used to pay for food and expenses. The only asset the lady has is a vacant home that needs work and the taxes are past due. Several years ago, the lady stated that she wanted to leave my friend the house, but it was never put into writing , and she is not mentally capable of making that decision now. The lady never had children and has no family. Can my friend sell the house, and use the money to pay for ongoing expenses? Can she keep any money if there is any leftover when the lady dies?
If the person dies with a will, it says how the estate is distributed. If the person dies intestate, the law says how it is distributed in your state. Probate courts don’t make these decisions, certainly not here or anywhere I have heard of. But if you are caring 24/7, the debt to you is likely to take a substantial part of the house proceeds. If you want to go to a lawyer, do the homework stated above first because that’s what the lawyer will ask about. But if it all seems straightforward, there may be no need. A lawyer won't be able to give you guarantees, and their advice is likely to be very much like this.
Even if you were the POA, there would probably still need to be an attorney involved with the transfer of assets from her name into....the name of your friend.