Can the court force a partition to sell our mothers house?

Yes, seek appointment of a conservator.

I would suggest that you petition to become conservator for your mother. That is likely to be cheaper than a partition action. A partition action probably would not help since your mother is still alive and she has the life estate. Your sister is currently in control of things by way of the POA. The conservatorship will trump the POA.

Whether to sell it or not is a question of what is better for your mom, not what any of five daughters wants. It sounds like you're right, if mom will never move back there then it makes no sense to keep the house. What you should do is get a lawyer to help you petition for Conservatorship over your mother's finances. Conservatorship will "trump" the power of attorney. The conservator will be able to sell the house (I certainly hope your mother didn't do something crazy like deed the house to the five of you). She did, didn't she? You said she has a life estate; so she must have deeded the house to the five of you, retaining a life estate. Big mistake, huh? Please tell all your friends that was a really bad idea. I have no idea how this thing of giving away the house became so popular, I've never seen it work well. If I were you, I would deed my share of the house to my three "good" sisters and walk away. Spend time with Mom in the nursing home. Don't let your last memories of Mom be of a bitter court battle that cost you thousands of dollars. Why would you all be paying bills for your mooch sister? Why? Just don't do it. Pay for insurance on the home, and just don't pay anything else. See how long mooch can live without water and power. My actual answer? See a lawyer about the partition. I'm frankly not sure how the partition would work with your mother's life estate in the mix. Carefully add up what the lawyer says this will cost you; in estimating cost, do NOT assume that bad sister will have to eat the attorney fees. If the house is not worth much, you may end up back at the "walk away" option. Then, see a lawyer about your estate plan. Don't do this to your children.

As a group hire an attorney near where your mother presently resides. You have not provided sufficient facts but most likely the proceeds of the house will end up paying your mother's medical costs if she still owns it.

Yes the court can force a sale of the house, upon the petition of one the heirs.

Probably. You may want to consider having someone appointed as guardian and conservator other than the sister with the POA. It may be a little more expensive, but in the long run it may obviate the need for the partitioning.

The answer may depend upon who owns the underlying title to the property subject to your mother's life estate. If its owned by the five daughters, a judge might be persuaded to order a sale of the house because your mother is actually responsible for its expenses and she has not been paying. The four daughters should consider asking the probate court to appoint a conservator (guardian) for your mother and petition for sale of the house. The POA should not stand in the way.

You really need to hire the services of an attorney. This could turn into a quite complicated case. At one point you call the house your "mother's house" but then you go on to say that she has only a life estate. If she only has a life estate there really isn't much partitioning a court could do. Given the other hand she does have a fee simple estate (full ownership) a court can partition property in the interests of justice. I think there may be several reasons in this case why a court would not, however. Does your mother received Medicaid benefits to help pay for her nursing home care? If she does receive those benefits, the Missouri division of family services may want to recover some of what they paid out for her care. You need to check that state office.