Can a filed POA be legally discovered? I believe it was done between parents & sibling without anyone telling me.

Your parents and your brother are not obligated or required to tell if there is a POA. Most of the time, the document isn’t filed anywhere. If it was filed, it would be with the county courts so that’s where you would check.

In my state a POA does not have to be filed. It would be nice if they were, would save time for most of us. We have posters who didn't even know they had been assigned and didn't want the responsibility. Again, I feel that the person being assigned should be made aware and sign off on it.

If ur State requires filing, then your County seat should have the record. If not, do ur parents have a lawyer they use? If so, contact the lawyer and ask if a POA has been done, if so who was assigned. Or, ask ur brother. Tell him Dad is being evasive and you need to know if one is in place.

You might ask your brother first if he has a copy.   If he's been named as Proxy, he should have one.  

In fact, I don't understand when I read that people don't even know they've been appointed.  My attorney required us to acknowledge and accept the responsibility, and that was part of the DPOA.  

Not having a copy could be a result of using an Internet or some other form not prepared by an attorney.

Perhaps if your father wanted you to know, he'd volunteer to show you the contents of the lockbox.   I have a feeling your brother is proxy, and your father just wants to protect you from being hurt.

But someone needs to know the contents if it becomes necessary for someone to step in and manage his affairs.  Contact your brother.

My husband is DPOA for his brother A, and another brother B is medical POA for brother A. They are each the backup POA for the other in case one of them is no longer able or willing to fulfill the duties. They both had to sign both documents acknowledging their roles and responsibilities. The signature may just be needed in certain states, but I find it hard to believe that a POA can just be assigned without agreeing to serve and acknowledging it by signiong the document. POA is not filed in our state, however. I suspect DFad may have chosen brother as POA but thinks your feelings might be hurt so that's why he's being evasive. Unless Dad explicitly told your brother not to tell you he is POA, he ought to be willing to tell you if he is since you have mutual concenrns about your parents well-being.

My brother refuses to do any caretaking. That was my issue. He's here two hours a week for dinner. He's done 3 small handyman chores around the yard in the last 12 months. That's it.

Every week, I drive and help my parents grocery/Walmart shopping, drive them to the bank, take them to doctor appointments and sit in with the doctor & the parent so I understand their care needs, clean around the house, take them on little drives around the area so they don't get cabin fever, etc.

I have asked my brother to help. He says he will but never shows up. I've asked him kindly to meet with me go to discuss future care and any documents which need to be gone over for parents care. He puts it off.

He needs money from the inheritance. I don't. I do it out of concern but am totally burned out. I can't take care of two elderly people and do my own life.

If he has total POA, then I'm not sticking around. It's really unfair to not be told things. I feel used.

Simply put, I would ask your dad to see it. No reason to maneuver around be direct. You should know how to manipulate him to get what you want.

So, your mom has Borderline Personality Disorder. And your dad? Does he have dementia or other cognitive issues?

You are between a rock and a hard place. You are being asked to give of yourself in a situation in which you have no authority, in which docs and other professionals are asking you to make choices and decisions that you have no standing to make.

I come from a relatively functional family in which everything was transparent. Brother had financial POA and although the rest of us had no insight into parents' finances, no one was being asked to give up their lives. When mom needed care, it was paid for. None of us was expected to or offered to do unpaid hands on care.

I would be upfront with your family and move on with your life. Tell them that you are now bowing out of the tasks that you have taken on.

It was your parents' responsibility to prepare for their old age. Not yours.

I suspect in your dad's worldview, "proper" daughters don't ask questions; they simply serve.

Surprise him.

When we, as a family, got to a point where mom's "emergencies" became a burden to me, I said "I can't do this any more". After some contention, she agreed to move into a nice facility we found for her.

There was NEVER any question that any one of us (there are three kids and spouses) should give up jobs or significant parts of our lives to "serve" mom's needs; mom's money was there to pay for her care. If there hadn't been money, we would have relied upon government entitlements. We, her adult kids, need to work, pay our mortgages and save for OUR retirements.

Look, even so, there were extra jobs, weekend employment, etc., that I couldn't do because of mom. There WAS some sacrifice. But it was always shared and there was never any secrecy.

I think you very much need a break. Walk away now for your own sanity.

Hi again, MMason. My own Financial Power of Attorney is filed in my brother's attorney's office, and with me. It is not otherwise filed anywhere.
MMason, do you know who currently is managing their financial affairs? Their checking, bill paying, home care, insurance payments, and etc.? Are they still doing it? If they are still doing it and have made out papers for the future that would be a DPOA. But if your brother is doing all that for them now, then he is their current POA for Financial. You are likely correct, that he is, if he is POA for financial, then also POA for health care for both of them.
Is there a reason that you cannot ask your brother if he is currently POA for Financial and POA for Health care for your Mom and Dad? Would he not answer you if you nicely asked him. Just say you need to know that Mom and Dad are safe and protected and could he just let you know if he is their POA, and acting as such at this time?
That would save so much time and trouble, and it would take so much off your plate. Trust me, my bro's stuff is small and tidy, and it is STILL an almost daily pain in the butt. You can get it all ironed out with entities who to call and send POA papers and all of that, and some computer the following month just flips it all on its side again. I absolutely HATE it, and at this point feel it is the only thing I CAN do for my bro, and that I agreed to do it, and that I have handled some of the worst of it. But I wish I had a another bro I could push it off on.
If your brother is POA, then he is likely also executor if anything happens to them. Let him be, and be glad it isn't you. Your parents could just be that old fashioned breed that believes "the boy does that" and you dust the furniture and make casseroles?
Don't also know if they have a Trust or a Will. Wills have to be filed for probate. Trusts don't. Upon death the executor handles the dispursals as the Trust dictates.
Are your parents aware that the brother doesn't share stuff with you? Have you voiced to them that you fear, if something does happen to them, you may never hear from your bro again.
This is such a good thread to tell people that when they do wills they should explain them to all family together and tell them where copies are found.

A lawyer will help you if you need to find out if there is a POA in place through discovery. Mine found out that sibling had recently taken mom with dementia to a lawyer for a new DPOA & amended trust.

If family is being sneaky their Up to no good!

"Not obligated" Maybe not, but it causes a lot of wasted time. All the poster wants to know is if a POA has been assigned. All her father has to say is yes or no. I really don't understand the secrecy. I was POA because I was living in the same town. One brother in another state the other probably didn't want the responsibility anyway. Both were made aware that I would be POA and Executor. Both have thanked me for caring for Mom.

The poster has good reasons why a POA is needed. I don't think OP care who it is just that there is one.