Q: Does a POA give the POA agent the right to act as my trustee, when my trustee has become mentally incompetent?
My father was my trustee for a trust for which I was both grantor and sole beneficiary. Without telling me, my sister acquired durable power of attorney for my father, and started "standing in" for my father, making decisions for my trust, and my personal expenditures, without becoming successor trustee. She was the next in line designated trustee for my trust, but did not assume that position until ten years after she assumed POA agent for my father, who became progressively incompetent. She removed all my assets from my trust, put my assets into two other trusts, then, after my father died, she took half of my assets after withholding my income until I agreed to split my trust assets with her. Could she do that simply with a POA for my trustee father, without becoming my successor trustee?
A:
This is a complex question and I can't urge you strongly enough to consult an experienced trusts attorney. There may be statute of limitations concerns.
Please contact me directly if you need help finding an attorney.
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