Elder Law Answers
What Should I Do If I Purchased Long-Term Care Insurance from a Disreputable Company?
My spouse and I purchased a long-term care policy a few years ago when we were both in our 50s. We are now both in our mid...
Read moreWhat Should I Do If the Bank Won't Honor My Power of Attorney?
- August 28th, 2013
Q
My father and mother executed a co-durable power of attorney naming my brother and me as joint attorneys-in-fact. My father is now deceased. My mother is owner of an investment portfolio with monthly dividends being automatically reinvested. My brother and I wish to have the dividends placed into my mother's checking account so that I may utilize the funds for monthly fees at a 'memory-care center.' A large investment firm/bank doing business in our state of Washington will not honor the 'power of attorney' because it is a 'joint' power of attorney. Apparently the bank would honor the power of attorney if the document specified that my brother or I were able to act alone. My mother can no longer sign her name in order to modify the existing power of attorney. What legal grounds does a bank have to deny us using a power of attorney?
A
While banks and other financial institutions are known to refuse to accept powers of attorney for no good reason, in your case it sounds like the bank may have a point -- but only so far. If the power of attorney does not specify that you and your brother can each act on your own, then the bank should still honor any check signed by both of you. If it won't, you may want to contact your state agency that regulates banks to see if it will apply some pressure on your behalf.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Ashburn, VA
Meet William Fralin
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William Fralin
The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm PC
Bill founded The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm, P.C. in 1994. Bill limits his practice to the areas of estate planning and administration, incapacity planning, Medicaid, asset protection planning, and elder law. He is one of (15) fifteen attorneys practicing in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, ce...
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Meet Margaret O'Reilly
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Margaret O'Reilly
Margaret A. O'Reilly, PC
Margaret A. O’Reilly is an estate planning and elder law attorney with over thirty-five years of legal experience. Attorney O’Reilly graduated from Duke University with a degree in psychology, and received her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. For over 15 y...
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Meet John Laster
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John Laster
Law Offices of John L. Laster
John Laster is a lawyer licensed to practice in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He limits his practice to wealth transfer planning, trusts, wills, powers of attorney, health care decision-making issues, estate administration and related tax, elder law and disability concerns. Listed in The Best Lawyers...
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