My Mom's bank wants my name on her account. Could the creditors take money from my Mom's account?

Pam, my cousin had her name on some of her mom's credit cards, and because she did that she inherited the debt on those that was not rightfully hers. The real question is why the bank wants your name on there, are they thinking they can hold you responsible for overdrafts? would you be on just as POA? Creditors can't typically just "take" money in a bank account, but they can present checks or charges and if there is not enough money to cover you and your mom get socked with returned check and or overdraft fees, sometimes on a daily basis. I did not ever put my name on my parent's accounts, just signed checks as myname, POA for theirname and used online bill pay on their behalf.

Letter of Testament is a legal document that gives the executor of the will the power to probate the estate of the deceased. All probatable assets cannot be touched until the County Probate court initiates the Letter of Testament to the executor stated in the Official Will.

Since the POA does end with her death and you want to be able to pay her remaining bills, another option is to have a POD (payable on death) on her bank account. The bank will set this up with your mother's approval.

I think they also want me on it so when she dies I can pay the Bills and take out money. I know with a POA you can do that as well. This is so very new to me, but I am learning as I go along.

POA is fine, just make sure you always write POA after your name so they don't try to bill you. The bank has their own forms for making you a signatory only. NEVER combine funds or open joint accounts. It can make things very messy.

The POA terminates at death, then goes to executor responsibilities to liquidate assets, pay bills and distribute any remaining assets to beneficiaries.

If it is possible, have your mother make you her Power of Attorney and use that instead of being on the account. It would have to be a joint account and that is not good except for H&W. Make sure the POA is a Durable one.

Regarding transferring remains...you pay for shipping. Essentially, human remains are cargo, with a bunch of extra requirements (documentation, container specifications, etc.) Your funeral home should be well versed in handling the details. I'd expect to pay anywhere from several hundred to more than a thousand dollars. A funeral home in the town where she'll be buried should make the arrangements (or you can make them yourself). Because you know this is going to be an issue, you should take the opportunity to shop around and research now, so you'll be prepared.

A more practical solution would be to have your mom cremated (if she's agreeable to that). Then, you personally can take them or ship them to the cemetery. They can be buried in the plot just as a casket would be. In fact, many deeds for plots now contain the number of caskets, plus number of cremated remains that can be buried in them.

pami, the bank can have you listed on the account as payable on death (POD). I did that with Mom's account. I did not put my name on the account but we signed a document at the bank that said when she dies, I then have access to the account to pay bills or pay out inheritance, etc. (There's nothing to inherit, but whatever.) Meanwhile, I log online for her and pay her bills, check her balance, etc.

I want to share my experience as my Mom passed away last month. I was POA but that was terminated at her death. I had her will naming me as executor of her estate to pay final expenses. The bank did not recognize the will would not even look at it. I was writing checks for the expenses at the pharmacy. She passed on 7th they froze her account on the 13th. Non payment of bills were then sent to collections. I was told I needed a Letter of Testament to set up an estate account of course that would have been a lawyer fee. I am thankful we went ahead and pain for her funeral the day she went into Hospice. I called my Lawyer and she told me since all 3 of us were POD just to get the money and split the expenses. I wanted to give some to the church but was not able to before the split of the funds. Mom thought she had it set up that I could pay her bills not sure if things are different from state to state but they would not even let me set up online banking for her. It is so sad that you are faced with these situations when you are also grieving over your loss.