Guardianship/deed question

Mother and father deeded their property to me and my sister but the retained all rights to the property till their death. On the deed it says Warranty Deed. This deed was written about 13 years ago and recorded about 8 years ago.

Eight years ago because of poor health mother came to live with me in Wisconsin and father went to live with my sister in Mississippi. The property is in Alabama and at that time sister kind of took over the property. Example- She put a padlock on the door and refused to give mother a key when she was living (she passed away a couple of years ago) put up No Trespassing signs, told relatives they couldn't hunt on property after mother and father had given permission.

Father was ruled incompetent over 60 years ago and when he went to live with sister she took over his guardianship. Mother and father both signed this deed but mothers name wasn't on the original deed. Don't know if this makes a difference.

The real question here is; as father's legal guardian can sister have this deed changed because of his incompetence and the fact that he lives with her and she takes care of him?

We don't get along very well (most of the time we tolerate each other). She's greedy, very controlling, a spendthrift and has OCD. She's went through about $40,000.00 of father's money in the last 6 years, plus she gets paid for taking care of him (I didn't get paid for taking care of mother and didn't expect to) and she has access to his check every month. She's probably found a way to use this money legally such as buying a new car to transport father to doctors etc. The whole family feels if there were no money involved she wouldn't be taking care of father. I do have to give her this, I do think she takes good care of him. The family has her number but like me they tolerate her when necessary. Some of them even say she's crazy. On the other side of the coin, she thinks I'm dishonest but I'm not and I don't think anyone would say I am.

She called a few days ago asking for a copy of mother's death certificate and told me she's been paying the property taxes for the last 5 years. I don't trust her (not because I have a guilty conscience as she suggest) but because I know how she operates and I feel if she can she will take the property and leave me with nothing. With her it's greed. With me it's the principle.

Thanks for your help.

Your father was ruled incompetent sixty years ago ? How old is he?
Being guardian does not necessarily mean she can change his legal documents, such as the deed, but if she has power of attorney, she can.

Her having the death certificate doesn't allow her to take the property.

I concur with GentleGrace that giving your sister a copy of the death certificate would not by itself give her any power to change the deed. Also, as your mother's daughter she could almost certainly obtain a copy through her own efforts.

What she might be thinking is that if title were held by your parents as what is often called "tenants by the entirety" or as "husband and wife" or "with rights of survivorship" or some similar language, that having the death certificate would enable her to prove that your father is the sole owner. If that were the case, she might be thinking that would clear the path for her to put the property in her own name, either through a power of attorney or some other artifice.

What is difficult for me to understand without looking at the deed is how a warranty deed would be used to transfer property to you and your sister, with your parents retaining rights in their lifetimes. It may be that your parents transferred outright ownership to you and your sister except for a retained life estate. If that is the case, then probably title is fixed and your sister cannot do anything about changing it, even if she has a power of attorney.

Hopefully, this helps explain the potential issues but there is only so much that can be done on a forum site like this. To really resolve it you need to contact an attorney with real estate expertise in the state where the property is located, provide her or him with a copy of the warranty deed, and get an opinion. A good lawyer with a copy of the deed in hand may - I say may - be able to give you an answer almost immediately.

Thanks for your replies. I have contacted an attorney in AL and as soon as I get a new fax machine I'm going to fax a copy of the deed to him which will be today.

My machine quit a few days ago and I've been trying to decide which is the best machine for the money. Got it narrowed down to two machines and will decide between the two today.

I'll post what I find out later.