Southwest Florida

Using a Power of Attorney for a Parent

power of attorney
A Power of Attorney is the most important estate planning document your parent should have.

Does your parent have a Power of Attorney? Do you have a copy?

Imagine that your perfectly fine, aging-well parent has had a minor stroke and is no longer able to manage her financial or legal affairs. Your parent has been living independently, waving off offers of help or even having someone come in to clean for years. It seemed as if it would go on that way forever. What happens, asks the Daily Times, when you are confronted with this scenario in the aptly-titled article “Senior Life: What a nightmare! Untangling a loved one’s finances”?

After the health crisis is over, it’s time to get busy. Open the door to the home and start looking. Where’s the original Will? Where are the bank statements and where’s the information about Social Security benefits? When you start making calls or going online, you may run into a bigger problem than figuring out where the papers are kept – no one will talk with you. You are not legally authorized, even though you are a direct descendant.

This happens all the time.

Statistically speaking, it is extremely likely that your parent will end up, at some point, in a nursing home or a rehabilitation center for an extended period of time. Most people have no idea what their parent’s financial situation is. They don’t know where and how Dad keeps his financial and legal records or what they would need to do to help him in an emergency.

It’s not that difficult to fix, but you and your healthy parent or parents need to start by planning for the future. That means sitting down with an estate planning attorney and making sure to have some key documents executed – especially a Power of Attorney.

A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives you permission to act on another person’s behalf as their agent, if they are unable to do so. It must be properly prepared in accordance with your state’s laws.  It allows you to pay bills and make decisions on behalf of a loved one while they are alive. Without it, you’ll need to go to court to be appointed as legal guardian. That takes time and is much more expensive than having a POA created and properly executed.

If you’ve downloaded a Power of Attorney and are hoping it works, be warned: chances are good it won’t. Many financial institutions are very picky about the POAs they’ll accept, and most generic forms won’t have many of the special provisions estate planning and elder law attorneys know need to be included to allow you to have certain powers in place to help your parent.

If your parent has a POA in place, and you have to step in, then it’s time to get organized. You’ll need to go through your parent’s important papers, setting up a system so you’ll be able to see what bills need to be paid and how many bank accounts or investment accounts exist.

Next, it’s time to consolidate. If your parent was a child of the Depression, chances are she has money in many different places. This gave her a sense of security but it’ll give you a headache! Consolidate multiple CDs, bank accounts, and investment accounts into one institution. Have Social Security and any pension checks deposited into one account.

If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask for it. The stress of organizing a loved one’s home, caring for him or her, and managing the winding down of a home can be overwhelming. Your estate planning attorney will be able to connect you with a number of resources in your area.

Reference: Daily Times (April 9, 2019) “Senior Life: What a nightmare! Untangling a loved one’s finances”

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