He can get access to the Mom's assets now if he has a good POA document, but not to shared accounts with the father. You should however do some separation of assets her with the Dad if you are concerned. He can do this WHILE MOM IS ALIVE, not when she is dead. A POA DISAPPEARS as soon as the person has died. It then goes to the Will and who is the EXECUTOR of the will.
POA ends at death. When SM dies, contact every joint account and report her death. This should stop any withdrawals by anyone except the named account holders, your dad.
If he is cleaning them out, he is probably actively doing it now or he isn't aware that his authority as POA ends the moment she passes.
Follow what Igloo recommends, she is very knowledgeable in these situations.
I don't think if you are POA you need to also be on the bank accts. U can access them as POA.
What I would do is make the bank aware that the wife is dying and that no one should excess the accts without you knowing about it. Usually in a marriage Wills are set up what yours is mine. Since there are step-children involved, things are probably different.
If he is a signatory on the account he can. I’ll bet he is also the executor as per her will.
if all this is a concern, you might want to do a couple of things: - have dad go on line to get access to all thier accounts at all banks and print out this months and last 6 months statements. Then once a mo in the future dad & you do this. These you set aside so if there is something amiss, you can use the info to have dependent administration done on her probate. You (actually your attorney) will challenge his Letters Testamentary in probate court and use the statements to establish why. - Dad opens a new account that get direct deposit of dads Social Security income and any other retirement income that dad & you are the only signatory on. This dad can do now. - if you are not your fathers POA try to get that done. - get a copy of their wills or thier codicils. - if they own any property, start you own search on these. Include property both owned before thier marriage and since.
Personally if her death is near, and her son has access to all their banking and is the future executor, and he has shown self dealing in the past, I’d go ahead now and start looking for & hire a probate atty who does litigation to represent your dad in how the disposition of stepmom estate is dealt with. You want someone essentially booked now to deal with whatever filing’s are done asap after her death.
Just to clarify, he has financial PoA specifically? If so, in his PoA doc it stipulates when the authority is activated. If it is "springing" it usually requires 1 or 2 medical diagnosis of incapacity. If "durable" it was active when she signed it. Whatever accounts has her name on it will need to be accessed by the financial PoA.
Banks often have their own PoA protocol and will require him to come in with his PoA paperwork but then they have you sign a bunch of their own paperwork, and copy your ID, etc. One bank required me to actually bring in my 98 and 101 yr old aunts in person in order to add me. TDAmeriTrade required my mom to be on the call on speakerphone. They don't make it easy.
Remarriages later in life can cause all sorts of strained dynamics when these types of elder crisis inevitably come up. Try to stay communicative and cooperative with your stepbrother. If you are your father's financial PoA then you will have insight into the same accounts and can keep an eye on things.
I see that your dad has Alzheimer’s. Do you have your dad’s POA? I would think that your stepmoms shared account would be accessible to her POA. POA authority ends at death.
A POA DISAPPEARS as soon as the person has died. It then goes to the Will and who is the EXECUTOR of the will.
If he is cleaning them out, he is probably actively doing it now or he isn't aware that his authority as POA ends the moment she passes.
Follow what Igloo recommends, she is very knowledgeable in these situations.
What I would do is make the bank aware that the wife is dying and that no one should excess the accts without you knowing about it. Usually in a marriage Wills are set up what yours is mine. Since there are step-children involved, things are probably different.
I’ll bet he is also the executor as per her will.
if all this is a concern, you might want to do a couple of things:
- have dad go on line to get access to all thier accounts at all banks and print out this months and last 6 months statements. Then once a mo in the future dad & you do this. These you set aside so if there is something amiss, you can use the info to have dependent administration done on her probate. You (actually your attorney) will challenge his Letters Testamentary in probate court and use the statements to establish why.
- Dad opens a new account that get direct deposit of dads Social Security income and any other retirement income that dad & you are the only signatory on. This dad can do now.
- if you are not your fathers POA try to get that done.
- get a copy of their wills or thier codicils.
- if they own any property, start you own search on these. Include property both owned before thier marriage and since.
Personally if her death is near, and her son has access to all their banking and is the future executor, and he has shown self dealing in the past, I’d go ahead now and start looking for & hire a probate atty who does litigation to represent your dad in how the disposition of stepmom estate is dealt with. You want someone essentially booked now to deal with whatever filing’s are done asap after her death.
Banks often have their own PoA protocol and will require him to come in with his PoA paperwork but then they have you sign a bunch of their own paperwork, and copy your ID, etc. One bank required me to actually bring in my 98 and 101 yr old aunts in person in order to add me. TDAmeriTrade required my mom to be on the call on speakerphone. They don't make it easy.
Remarriages later in life can cause all sorts of strained dynamics when these types of elder crisis inevitably come up. Try to stay communicative and cooperative with your stepbrother. If you are your father's financial PoA then you will have insight into the same accounts and can keep an eye on things.
I would think that your stepmoms shared account would be accessible to her POA. POA authority ends at death.