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.
Mr. Robin Mashal agrees with this answer
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