My father is in a nursing home and incompetent on signing papers. Step mother is buying his half of their home to pay for nursing home. We want the things out of the house that belonged to our parents. Do we have to wait till he passes or can we get them now.

Due to your dads condition he can no longer give permission to have you take his property. I say this assuming your statement means he has been legally declared incompetent. With a will his property will be divided according to the wills provisions. No will and step mom will likely get it all. I am confused about step mom buying his half of the home, don't they jointly own the home, she'd be buying it from herself if he passes

Step mother is buying his half of their home to pay for nursing home. Hello h:

I agree with b. How THIS transaction occurred and WHY, needs to be answered BEFORE we can give an opinion.

excon

They bought the house 50/50. Agreement being $50,000 that she puts in acct now and payments with interest made over the next 4 years. We don't trust her. We just want the things that belonged to our parents before my mother died out of the house.

Hello again, h:

I understand that is the FINANCIAL arrangement, but we need to understand the LEGAL arrangement... Title in the house can be held in lots of different ways, and HOW title is held, determines who owns it, what they can do with it, and who inherits it. Plus, different states have different rules too, so THAT makes a difference...

Look. Even though I don't understand quite yet what the circumstances are, and even if you are eventually able to provide us with enough information to help you, YOU'RE going to need some help DOING it, because it's clear that you don't have a grasp about the legal issues...

That's fine. MOST people don't. That's why they hire EXPERTS at the law to help them out. You need to hire a local lawyer.

excon

Unless there is something we have not heard yet the home is likely jointly owned or teants in common. Which one will make a difference when dad passes. His possessions and personal property go to the step mom or according to his will, does he have a will? In the meantime, you can take nothing without step moms permission. Who is his guardian or hold durable power of attorney?