Unfortunately his advice to me was not what I wanted to hear. Years ago my parents had given me powers of attorney and I had tucked them away. When my husband looked them over, he told me they were worthless.
He pointed out they had been written eighteen years prior at a time when neither of my parents had issues. So while I was listed second in each document there was no direct method of transfer only a vague phrase about "unable to serve." Even if it was clear that one parent couldn't serve the other I would have to jump through hoops to be in charge. At a minimum two doctors would have to testify that the parent in question could not manage their affairs.
Further my brother and I were named equally which means if a dispute arose forward progress could stall completely.
Finally, because by this point my brother and I were both past 55, and there was no successor after the two of us.
What I found over the next few weeks and months was that much of what he said was correct. Financial guardians would follow the letter of the Power of Attorney and issue odd edicts based on the document. On the other hand the whole medical system didn't care a bit. They glanced at the old document, checked a box, and I was in control. Of course, they all wanted to be paid.
At this point I asked my husband to draw new power of attorney documents and began to talk with my dad about setting me up on their regular bank accounts. In theory he could add me to his own accounts, no problem, and all their accounts were held in joint so I hoped the bank would be okay with this solution.
No comments:
Post a Comment