Q: Re: Power of Attorney for a parent. My mother had accounts/investments with a local bank. Some of the accounts had
all of the children's name on the account. Can the individual with the power of attorney go in and close those accounts or remove the money WITHOUT the signatures of the other children?
A:
It depends on whether the accounts were convenience accounts (children's signatures for the mother's convenience only but all her money), pay-on-death accounts (pay on death to the children but all the mother's money) or joint accounts (jointly owned by the people named, whether or not joint with right of survivorship on the death of someone else named).
Please also note the the mother's Durable Power of Attorney loses its legal effect with her death.
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