Q: I am half owner of My Mother's home. When sold will I get half of sale for my sweat equity?

A: If you own half the house and because you were added 25 years ago you will should get 1/2 of the net proceeds. You mention sweat equity but you have not given any information what you mean by that so I can't comment. As a 1/2 owner you had at least 1/2 of the responsibility to maintain and repair the house. Maybe you did more than your 1/2 share so you feel you are owed more. There is such a thing as a Partition suit which you can file in Oregon which will give you a chance to make claims as to what the other co-owner owes you which could include their 1/2 of any repairs you paid for and any property tax you paid. The other home owner may also owe you 1/2 of the rental value if they lived in the house and you didn't live there. Your best option at this point is to make an appointment and talk to an attorney and figure out if the cost of a partition suit is justified economically. (I am assuming your mom is still alive.) Often when you figure out your legal stance and that it has merit, the other parties involved may be willing to negotiate a settlement so you don't actually have to do more than threaten to sue.

I am going to assume that what is happening is a medicaid spend down so your mom can get full time nursing care. So whatever you do, you want to be very careful that nothing you do causes your mom to be disqualified from getting Medicaid. Here is something else you should consider. If the money from the house will be used to pay for her care before Medicaid takes over paying, you may want to leave your mother as much money as possible so she can get care in a better facility then she could get when she only has Medicaid. Some places will let you enter paying privately for your care if you have money, and then will not require you to move out when your money runs out and Medicaid starts paying. Ideally you want your mother to get the best private care she can get. So be sure to discuss this with an elder law attorney.