What is the cost of a durable POA in CA? My sister resides in CA. She had a stroke in July; now in rehab facility in CA.

Question

I need to obtain a POA for her. I'm in Florida. The only assets she has, to my knowledge, are 2 cars (in CA), a bank account (in CA - don't know if anything is in at this point) and some land in FL (which she was considering selling before her stroke). She also as a list of credit card accounts. We will be relocating her to FL in the very, very near future. Is it advisable to obtain a POA in CA or FL? 
 
Ms. Whitehurst, what other "eventualities" are you referring to? And, Mr. Gaffney, so, is it necessary and/or advised to obtain a physician's letter stating she has "the mental capacity to understand what she is signing"? We are awaiting approval for SSI and Medicaid - is it advisable for her to keep her piece of land property or sell it?

Nina Whitehurst · Answer

Here is the California statutory power of attorney form available for free online:  https://www.smclawlibrary.org/forms/PowerOfAttorney.pdf 
 
However, it is very basic and does not cover many eventualities that you may want/need in the future.  For a custom power of attorney, you should engage an experienced elder law attorney.  I am also licensed in California. 
 
The documents created in California should generally be valid and recognized in Florida when she moves to Florida, but to be safe you should contact a Florida attorney if/when she moves to see if any updates are needed.

Jeffrey Louis Gaffney · Answer

If she is in California then you need to do it in California, because she has to sign the Power of Attorney in front of a notary. 
The big question is: Does she have the mental capacity to understand what she is signing?  If she cannot, then the PoA will do you no good and you need a conservatorship instead, which is not simple and takes several months (though there is a way to get an "emergency one" that will fill that several month gap, but even that is not instant). 
As to cost, it is just a form downloadable from the internet.  The State of California has an official one that you can get by Googling "California Statutory Power of Attorney".

James Edward Berge · Answer

Besides a statutory general durable power of attorney which you can readily find online, you should also see if the bank or other financial institution has a downloadable power of attorney specific to their institution.  Banks generally like their own form power of attorneys more than they like general power of attorney forms that you can readily find online.

Q: What is the cost of a durable POA in CA? My sister resides in CA. She had a stroke in July; now in rehab facility in CA.