Family member wanting to move into the family home.

We need more information, like what state the home is in, who is the Trustee, what does the trust say about it, who is the PoA, how long has the house been vacant? etc. Same questions an attorney would ask.

Did the parent just go into the SNF? How old is this family member? Would they intend to pay rent? Do they have a reputation for being responsible?

Once someone moves in, they may not want to move out. Then they'd have to be evicted. In some states a vacant home would not be insurable. They would need to have a lease and renter's insurance. Not sure about Medicaid qualification if renting happens. Or, maybe they just occupy the home to keep it up. More info would be helpful.

Sure, and it is a good idea in a lot of circumstances.
Speaking of insurance, a lot of insurance companies will not keep insuring an uninhabited home. The person moving in can often be considered a caretaker, can make a contract with elder law attorney to live in and MAINTAIN home.
This would take a POA who can manage this and a cooperative family member moving in.
When the estate passes to the executor upon the death of the parent the executor prepares the home for sale so as to move it into the estate for distribution; that would need to be in the contract.
Only you know your family, and should know them pretty well to do this, and seek the advice of an attorney.

In my family’s case it would not have worked. I have a sibling who very much wanted to move into our parent’s home. The issue would have been getting him to ever move out. Even though I was executor of the will, and there were instructions to sell the house, it would have been an awful fight. Once a house has been established as someone’s home moving them out can become a legal mess

Could get messy. Maybe better to sell the house and have the money to pay for the SNF instead.

I would not want a family member moving in because they may not want to leave. That alone would be enough reason for me to not to open this can of worms.

Sell the house , then those funds are available to pay for parent’s care as it should be.

It’s another headache you don’t need watching over the house . Also the family member may not want to leave, should it need to be sold to pay for parent’s care.

It’s in the best interest of the parent to sell now while selling prices are high. The best interest of the owner takes priority over another family member wanting to move in. Who knows if the real estate market will crash. Sell asap .

If your parent is on Medicaid then no, can't have someone living there. Medicaid would require the person to pay rent and that would screw with what Medicaid contributes. Even though the house is exempt, Medicaid has a lot to say about what happens to it.

There are so many reasons not to. A lot depends on your future plans.
When my in-laws passed, one of their grands wanted to move into their house before it went on the market. she had been “subsidized” heavily be her grandparents before their death and it was a way for her to get accustomed to paying her own bills by saving up a nest egg.
My husband charged his niece rent which he put in a savings account in both their names. She could take it out or he could, so it was a trust bldg exercise. The agreement was she would have money available for a deposit when it was time for her to move and no furniture to be moved in and she had to get a PO Box.
It worked out for her and the house was watched out for. She is a tidy person, was a microwave cook, so all of that was part of the thought process. The estate paid the utilities etc. in order to maintain control.
But if kids are involved, schools, addresses change. Utilities. Nope.Too many issues.

Personally I wouldn’t, renting and especially renting one that’s an older home filled w/decades of stuff is just a royal PIA.

However if financially you need to…..

What is this person like? Personally I’d pull a credit report as a 1st step in this. Yeah it’s family, but ask abt their financial situation, verret out why they need a new place; then use that credit report to verify. What is their age? If they are younger the demands on the house will be way waaaaay more intense.

Legal: Once moved in, they become a resident of that address & are a tenant. So should they need to leave and not want to, as they are a tenant & you would have to go thru whatever legal eviction process for your state. Some States (CA) very tenant friendly and this could easily take months to go through and you’re often best to flat buy them out to leave. TX, which is not an especially tenant rights type of State, requires property owner at their own costs to file Eviction documents at the courthouse, do set of Notices delivered to the erstwhile tenant and then a hearing b4 a judge is scheduled about 1-3 months later. You cannot do anything during this to negatively affect tenants situation…. Like ya can’t shut the water off or change the locks. If it goes bad, I’d be concerned that if the family member or their current love interest or housemates decide they are not leaving, that they will say to the Judge that grandma/ Auntie whomever personally told them they could stay there till whenever as looking out for the house….. tears and emotions. U as DPOA have to try to refute this and unless elder has been in a coma for years, will hard to do. Judge could ask for the actual owner to appear if conflicting narratives.

Rent & costs: Would you be charging rent? If so that’s income & you would need to keep records religiously on every penny of property costs as all this goes to CPA/ tax pro to do the elders taxes.

Doing a leasing agreement? and requiring a deposit?
Pets, smoking / vaping allowed? Weed if legal in your State?
What is property like…. Everything relatively to current code? Appliances, HVAC, roof, plumbing, water heater within 10/12 years?
What’s electrical like…. Older folks aren’t streaming hours daily, having routers, wifi, big screens, constantly charging devices, possible have an EV, running multiple appliances all the same time…. if place is last millennium electrical, they will be Jerry-rigging outlets. FUN!
How is property management going to be dealt with? Like who deals with a sewer line failure? Super Fun!

Medicaid: please reread what JoAnn posted, it’s important! If the elder is on LTC Medicaid or likely to file in the future, they need to be doing FMV rent otherwise it looks like “gifting” which causes issues. Also rent is income to property owner and LTC Medicaid has maximums on income levels for eligibility.

insurance: technically day the elder moved to the SNF, homeowners policy invalidated. It’s kinda a squishy for insurance carriers to find out, but if there is a claim filed, the adjuster will want to know elderly owners whereabouts at time of the incident. LSS it will surface and be an issue unless there a Right of Return filed (this is a standard LTC Medicaid item if the applicant keeps their home as exempt asset). Ideally POA should switch to a Vacant Dwelling Policy. Once rented, it gets changed again to rental / income producing/ investment type of policy. Expect a questionnaire as to age of the majors on the house. Especially the roof as many places (lots of FL and LA zip codes) will not underwrite if over 10 yrs.

If they still have a mortgage (horrors!), renting gets quite involved.