Financial Powers of Attorney

Learn the ins and outs of creating a POA and choosing an agent.

Understand medical and financial powers of attorney and why you need to prepare both.

Almost everyone can benefit from a durable power of attorney for finances.

The durable financial power of attorney is a simple way to arrange for someone to handle your finances.

Sometimes a bank or financial institution won’t accept your POA. What then?

If you’re concerned about keeping up with your bill-paying and banking, you can get help by setting up a convenience account or a power of attorney.

You may have heard of “springing” powers of attorney—that is, powers of attorney that “spring” into effect when you become incapacitated.

I have a durable power of attorney for my mother-in-law. I want to open a bank account in my town to deposit her checks. She has senile dementia, so she can't sign her own checks. Can I write "For Deposit Only" on them? Also, when I pay her bills, do I sign her name -- and should the account be in her name?

We are setting up a financial power of attorney for my mother, naming me as the agent. Can I be paid an hourly sum for my services, and can I participate in financial transactions that I conduct on my mother's behalf?

Can you have a shared power of attorney? My aunt named her son as agent and he misused funds. Then she appointed her nephew and he let her credit rating slip because he did not pay bills in a timely fashion. Now she would like both her niece and nephew to have authority to handle financial matters for her; she thinks this will serve to keep both of them on their toes.

I was taking care of a now-deceased man via a general power of attorney. It has this clause: "This power of attorney is not affected by the subsequent disability of the principal." Most of my advisers say that it is still effective. I want to use it to sell his mobile home. The bank says no. What do you say?

If I have power of attorney for someone, can I be held responsible for that person's debts in the event of death?

The difference between a "power of attorney" and a "durable power of attorney."