I don't understand that. My mother signed my POA in November of 2009 and she was diagnosed with dementia in January. Seems to me, as long as she was competent when she signed and the notary signed off on it, I can't see a problem.
I have read on here it depends on the stage they are in. As long as it is in an early enough stage, I believe it should be held valid. Keep checking with Lawyers who specialize in POA and also check with her Dr and the person who was there who witnessed it. If they even thought she wasn't in sound enough mind, I think they wouldn't of let her make one. Good luck
(Answer: The organization the agent is dealing with may decline to accept the power of attorney. Many banks and savings associations often have their own form of power of attorney for accounts at the institution. It is very common that a bank will insist their own forms be used and will refuse to accept any other power of attorney. New York has passed a law prohibiting a bank from insisting on the use of their own forms (see below link in case the bank is located in NY). Many banks will not accept a power of attorney if the power of attorney is too old, or "stale." A power of attorney that is more than six months old may not be acceptable. While state law relieves any person or organization receiving a power of attorney from any liability in connection with the power of attorney, it still is not always accepted by everyone, despite the fact it is legal and valid. )
This information that follows is not mine but should be helpful for you I hope... I found and copied from... ...(frena answered... i've been researching this issue and talking with bank managers to do an article on this, since i already know it's a big problem for families. apparently, this is not federally controlled and each state has its own special requirements and each bank has their own requirements. sometimes they want specific language used and so on. sometimes a dr's letter is not regarded as legally sufficient. the bank managers suggested to me that an elder law lawyer should be brought into the situation to get things done. this is a national crisis right now, that spouses and family members of those with dementia are being locked out of resources essential for use. the banks managers i spoke to said the real issue is that their main legal charge is to safeguard the moneys of the person with dementia (if they are the main signatory) against possible predatory behavior on the part of family members. that's why the suggestion of getting a local lawyer to help and i believe it could well be a free service in many localities. everyone agrees the situation is absurd. no national attention is yet being paid to this. so maybe see a lawyer (it need not be hugely expensive) and absolutely contact your senators and congress people. good luck with this difficult situation made even more so.
I have found banks to be impossible, even when you have POA. I went in with my competent mother to her bank, financial POA in-hand and they refused to accept it. They said it was filled-out wrong. I went back to the notary. The notary and I went through the section the bank didn't like and the notary said that it was correct and the bank mistaken and I, having read it, can clearly see that the notary is right. It wasn't a particularly tricky section to understand. However, the bank refuses to re-read it and just won't accept it.
I made one last visit to the bank and Mom took all her money out and we found a new bank for her, not that I think all those problems are gone just because we have a new bank.
That doesn't help you, though. But I would just go to a lawyer and be prepared to wait a long time. The banks are slow, they refuse to cooperate even when the lawyers say there's clear precedent for it and I'm not sure there's a lot you can do.
By the way, for those of you who have POA for a competent parent, our lawyer told us to go get her competency recorded. That way, if she becomes incompetent, we can prove that she was competent when she signed the POA. We just did that and are waiting for the letter that states her competency. That is not to say that a bank will accept that, either, but it's worth taking the time to do.
What I did when my father passed away was go to the bank and we put me on her account as the benefitsuary. That way I too am in control of her account.
The organization the agent is dealing with may decline to accept the power of attorney. Many banks and savings associations often have their own form of power of attorney for accounts at the institution. It is very common that a bank will insist their own forms be used and will refuse to accept any other power of attorney. New York has passed a law prohibiting a bank from insisting on the use of their own forms (see below link in case the bank is located in NY).
Many banks will not accept a power of attorney if the power of attorney is too old, or "stale." A power of attorney that is more than six months old may not be acceptable. While state law relieves any person or organization receiving a power of attorney from any liability in connection with the power of attorney, it still is not always accepted by everyone, despite the fact it is legal and valid. )
There is more of this answer at
...(frena answered...
i've been researching this issue and talking with bank managers to do an article on this, since i already know it's a big problem for families. apparently, this is not federally controlled and each state has its own special requirements and each bank has their own requirements. sometimes they want specific language used and so on. sometimes a dr's letter is not regarded as legally sufficient. the bank managers suggested to me that an elder law lawyer should be brought into the situation to get things done. this is a national crisis right now, that spouses and family members of those with dementia are being locked out of resources essential for use. the banks managers i spoke to said the real issue is that their main legal charge is to safeguard the moneys of the person with dementia (if they are the main signatory) against possible predatory behavior on the part of family members. that's why the suggestion of getting a local lawyer to help and i believe it could well be a free service in many localities. everyone agrees the situation is absurd. no national attention is yet being paid to this. so maybe see a lawyer (it need not be hugely expensive) and absolutely contact your senators and congress people. good luck with this difficult situation made even more so.
I made one last visit to the bank and Mom took all her money out and we found a new bank for her, not that I think all those problems are gone just because we have a new bank.
That doesn't help you, though. But I would just go to a lawyer and be prepared to wait a long time. The banks are slow, they refuse to cooperate even when the lawyers say there's clear precedent for it and I'm not sure there's a lot you can do.
By the way, for those of you who have POA for a competent parent, our lawyer told us to go get her competency recorded. That way, if she becomes incompetent, we can prove that she was competent when she signed the POA. We just did that and are waiting for the letter that states her competency. That is not to say that a bank will accept that, either, but it's worth taking the time to do.