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Sorry for your loss.

When a person dies, the executor of their will must take over responsibilities.
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Sorry for your loss, my prayers are with u. Hugs. Thank u for the information.
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I'm sorry about the loss of your sister. All this "stuff" is the last thing you need at a time like this.

My parents kept one checking account out of their trust and wisely added me to it several years ago. I was able to write the checks for my dad's bills and funeral expenses out of that account.

Be warned, too, that from this point on, any checks sent to your sister (refunds from cancelled annual payments, for example) have to be made out to "The Estate of" your sister, or the bank won't honor them. I received a check refunding my dad's unused Auto Club payment, and the bank wouldn't take it. The AAA was fine with reissuing the check, but it just took that extra step I didn't really need. Oddly, I received a check for him just a couple of weeks ago, properly made out to his estate, and he died in November 2018. It was the value of unused points from a credit card he had.

End of life is a tough time for so many people, and you not only need to set up your proper paperwork like a will, POAs and an Advance Medical Directive, but ideally we should have someone we fully trust that we can put on our bank accounts before they really NEED to be on those accounts. I never wrote a check or even knew the balance on my parents' account until I took over, but thank goodness for my dad's foresight to put me on as a co-signer. He also put me on his car as a co-owner, which made it very easy for me to sell.

Thanks for your wise advice.
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Oh I wanted to add. Funeral homes where I live will wait for payment, they understand there may be a hold on accounts.
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Frances73, I am amazed that it takes that long to get the death certificate. Here in BC it is a week or so. A family friend just passed away.

It is unfortunate that there is so little education around the processes and procedures of death.

This is also a good example of why prepaying and planning a funeral is a great idea. When my step dad was dying just over 2 years ago I called the funeral home where he had prepaid. They pulled his file and gave me the after hours number to call.

When he died, it was in the hospital with Mum and I present. I called the number and they were there within the hour to pick him up. He did not go into the hospital morgue. The next day Mum and I met with them, then the minister and had everything organized quickly. We only had to pay for the funeral tea, the music and minister at the church.
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I would contact the bank and talk with their estate department. They will tell you how to deal with the banking accounts.

If there is minimal assets it doesn't make any sense to file probate or create a Trust. Each state has protocol for dealing with these situations, your states attorney general website is a great resource to find out what you need to do in your state.

I am so sorry for your loss. May God give you strength and wisdom during this difficult time.
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My condolences on the loss of your sister. I have been sorting thru this since my mother's death. Federal agencies don’t recognize a POA so dealing with Social Security was fun! Anyway, our bank was smart and had me put on her checking account as a co-signer so I am able to write checks to cover her funeral expenses.

One difficulty has been waiting for the death certificate. We were told it would take 4-6 weeks as there was an overload of deaths. I am the executor and need this document to file for her life insurance and other financial instruments.
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Unfortunately you are not the only one to discover that a POA ends at death. If it didn't the POA could still have access to the deceased assets and distribute them as they wished. That's the purpose of the will. It honors the wishes of the deceased.

I think the POA documents should always specify that it ends at death but none of them do.
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Yes, POA ends with the death of the elder and that is when the Executor of the will or the Trustee of the Trust takes over. Many funeral homes understand this and will bill for expense. Some arrange for funeral ahead of time. In my own case I paid the costs and recovered them when made Trustee of the Trust now irrevocable (was revocable living trust while my bro lived).
I went to a Lawyer at once and got my papers of certification of Trust with myself as Trustee. The estate will need an EIN from the IRS. Originally I went through the application snail mail because online was complicated. It took three months for them to return a letter with questions and no EIN. I then let the Lawyer get the EIN and it took her only minutes. Once the EIN is in hand (I recommend the lawyer route-- my total costs at the Lawyer were 500.00.) you can get the accounts changed to "The estate of" and the executor uses this to settle out the will and distribute to the beneficiaries.
My advice honestly is to go to a Trust and Estate attorney. Let him or her know this is to settle and do filings on the estate of a deceased, not to create a Trust, as some don't do the former.
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About 20 years ago my mom set up a living revocable trust for all her assets. When she passed, the only thing I had to do was meet with our CPA to get a new tax ID number; I sent all her financial institutions a copy of the trust (I was the successor trustee) and a copy of her death certificate.
Mom died in October: I had her estate settled by the end of the year. I didn't have to go through probate; I didn't have to involve a lawyer. It was relatively simple.
My husband and I are going to do the same thing.
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My sister, though she was well up until a couple months ago, seemed to be very meticulous in her planning for her death. She had documents for POA and a living will. I saw those, but did not go through the whole packet that they were enclosed in, my brother took that before I had the opportunity to read everything in there. I don't know if she had an actual will. My brother is consulting with an attorney who handled that for my sister, so I hope he is successful in confirming that it was in her papers somewhere that he will be executor. Between us dealing with my sister's illness, hospitalizations and nursing home situation, her apartment and bills, it has been overwhelming for him in the seemingly short time this took place. We did not expect her to die. I offer to help, but we believed it was better for one person to deal with paperwork to avoid confusion or miscommunication. But, no, the lawyer, who he did meet with and who prepared the documents did not explain that.
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I’m sorry for your loss. I’m glad you shared here, it’s worth reminding everyone that POA does end in death. I was my dad’s POA, never used for anything in his life, but being on his accounts and being executor of his will has made most things easy to take care of after he died. I hope the rest of settling your sister’s estate will go smoothly
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I am so sorry for you loss.

Did your sister leave a will naming an executor?

If she did not (that is called "dying intestate") you will need to go to court to have someone appointed administrator of her estate.

I am surprised that the lawyer who prepared the Power of Attorney did not explain that it ended at death.
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