Q: My husband purchased our house before he and I got married. His mother lived with him, and he put her name on the deed.

A: If your husband's mother's name is on the deed, then the house cannot be sold without her signature. To make matters worse, her signature on the deed would not be valid anyway, because she is of unsound mind and is incapable of entering into legal transactions. Someone would have to act for her, and so (assuming that she has not given anyone her power of attorney) a court proceeding would have to be commenced in which the Court would appoint a local attorney as guardian of her interests. The guardian would then meet with your mother, and the Court would then hear from the guardian as to whether it would be in your husband's mother's best interests to sell the house and let your husband have the proceeds of sale. As a practical matter, the chances of a guardian making such a recommendation are very low, since the guardian is not likely to tell the Court that it's a good for a person of unsound mind to give away assets that she might need to support herself, and if the guardian did tell the judge that, the judge would not believe it, since the judge knows better. There's no easy way out of this situation. You should consult a local attorney, who may be able to come up with a creative solution involving either a trust for your husband's mother of her share of the equity, or perhaps arranging for her to have the same interest in the new house that she has in the present house. There may be other possible solutions. I wish you luck in finding one.

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