Q: Can a power of attorney be able to change the name on a house that belongs to his mother? Change it to the 4 children

A: Under the probate Code Sections 4450 (c) and 4451(f)(1) below, one with a power of attorney has the authority to act upon the matter unless specifically excluded. A general power of attorney would be similar.

4450. By executing a statutory form power of attorney with respect

to a subject listed in Section 4401, the principal, except as limited

or extended by the principal in the power of attorney, empowers the

agent, for that subject, to do all of the following:

(a) Demand, receive, and obtain by litigation or otherwise, money

or other thing of value to which the principal is, may become, or

claims to be entitled, and conserve, invest, disburse, or use

anything so received for the purposes intended.

(b) Contract in any manner with any person, on terms agreeable to

the agent, to accomplish a purpose of a transaction, and perform,

rescind, reform, release, or modify the contract or another contract

made by or on behalf of the principal.

(c) Execute, acknowledge, seal, and deliver a deed, revocation,

mortgage, lease, notice, check, release, or other instrument the

agent considers desirable to accomplish a purpose of a transaction.

(d) Prosecute, defend, submit to arbitration, settle, and propose

or accept a compromise with respect to, a claim existing in favor of

or against the principal or intervene in litigation relating to the

claim.

(e) Seek on the principal's behalf the assistance of a court to

carry out an act authorized by the power of attorney.

(f) Engage, compensate, and discharge an attorney, accountant,

expert witness, or other assistant.

(g) Keep appropriate records of each transaction, including an

accounting of receipts and disbursements.

(h) Prepare, execute, and file a record, report, or other document

the agent considers desirable to safeguard or promote the principal'

s interest under a statute or governmental regulation.

(i) Reimburse the agent for expenditures properly made by the

agent in exercising the powers granted by the power of attorney.

(j) In general, do any other lawful act with respect to the

subject.

4451. In a statutory form power of attorney, the language granting

power with respect to real property transactions empowers the agent

to do all of the following:

(a) Accept as a gift or as security for a loan, reject, demand,

buy, lease, receive, or otherwise acquire, an interest in real

property or a right incident to real property.

(b) Sell, exchange, convey with or without covenants, quitclaim,

release, surrender, mortgage, encumber, partition, consent to

partitioning, subdivide, apply for zoning, rezoning, or other

governmental permits, plat or consent to platting, develop, grant

options concerning, lease, sublease, or otherwise dispose of, an

interest in real property or a right incident to real property.

(c) Release, assign, satisfy, and enforce by litigation or

otherwise, a mortgage, deed of trust, encumbrance, lien, or other

claim to real property which exists or is asserted.

(d) Do any act of management or of conservation with respect to an

interest in real property, or a right incident to real property,

owned, or claimed to be owned, by the principal, including all of the

following:

(1) Insuring against a casualty, liability, or loss.

(2) Obtaining or regaining possession, or protecting the interest

or right, by litigation or otherwise.

(3) Paying, compromising, or contesting taxes or assessments, or

applying for and receiving refunds in connection with them.

(4) Purchasing supplies, hiring assistance or labor, and making

repairs or alterations in the real property.

(e) Use, develop, alter, replace, remove, erect, or install

structures or other improvements upon real property in or incident to

which the principal has, or claims to have, an interest or right.

(f) Participate in a reorganization with respect to real property

or a legal entity that owns an interest in or right incident to real

property and receive and hold shares of stock or obligations received

in a plan of reorganization, and act with respect to them, including

all of the following:

(1) Selling or otherwise disposing of them.

(2) Exercising or selling an option, conversion, or similar right

with respect to them.

(3) Voting them in person or by proxy.

(g) Change the form of title of an interest in or right incident

to real property.

(h) Dedicate to public use, with or without consideration,

easements or other real property in which the principal has, or

claims to have, an interest or right.