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I found signed papers giving my sibling POA over my parents finances and health.


I asked my then living father about them and he said that the POA was revoked. I did not find any revocation documents and my sibling is unaware the POA documents exist.


I care for my mother now and 80% of my parents assets have been moved to joint accounts (by my father).


My mother may need extended care now and the question of who has POA is coming up.


As the oldest in the family I have been making all decisions for her. My sibling lives out of state and rarely has much contact with her (us). Do I have a legal responsibility to disclose to my younger sibling about the POA papers?


I am the named successor trustee and executor of her Will but she is still receiving social security and pension payments (joint account) which I use to pay her (our) bills.


I could have her declared incapacitated according to the trust but the money she receives is not directed to the trust.

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To worriedinCali,

According to what is published on the Illinois legal aid website in the absence of a POA there is a hierarchy of people that can make medical decisions for you along with your doctor. If you don't want these people to make medical decisions for you; you create a POA.
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I would check out the laws in your state and county. Things very so much from jurisdictions that no one can give you good advice unless they live in your area. What is in one state can be totally different in another.
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Get to an attorney fast... good luck.,.
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If your mom is no longer competent and it sounds like she’s not since you said you can have her declared incapacitated by the courts then she cannot assign you as her POA. You will need to pursue guardianship.
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Get yourself made POA now. It matters not at all, then, what the former designation was. A new POA negates all others. Your parent need not be completely mentally perfect to assign you POA. Need only to know what they are doing, and the lawyer will question them to be certain they understand what they are signing. Then the POA formerly made out, no matter how many there are tucked away, matter not at all. The Lawyer will visit your Mom in her home; my bro's lawyer visited him in the rehab. I went out of the room. The lawyer questioned if he wished to assign me as the POA to handle his business and financial and legal concerns, and if he wished me to serve as Trustee of his Trust. He answered any questions. And they signed the papers.
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worriedinCali Feb 2020
That ship has sailed Alva. OPs mothers is incapacitated and cannot assign a new POA
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Your dad is passed and your mom sounds like she is incapacitated. So no one has legal authority to act in your mother's best interests right now if your sibling doesn't know or step up. Other than living out of state, is there any reason your mother would have been concerned about your sibling acting as her representative? Others on this site have legal knowledge and can weigh in on your question.
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golden222 Feb 2020
My father said that he did not want my sibling to have POA. He gave me the documents. I have no right to send my any of my parents personal affects to my siblings until I am named Trustee. I have the trustee papers.

Without a POA the order of people who have the legal authority to make decision for someone who is incapacitated is as far as I know is
spouse
oldest child
next oldest child
next oldest child
...
...
sibling
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Simple..if your parents are still legally competent, visit an elder lawyer and have POA redone, naming you. This automatically overrides any other existing POAs.
I wonder why, if the sibling doesn’t have much contact, you were not given POA to begin with. Best wishes..
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golden222 Feb 2020
My father died recently. My mother is still legally competent but mentally very fragile. She can't be left alone for too long. Her dementia causes her to have emotional swings daily and she has elaborate delusions that may affect her safety.

My father had me open a safe deposit box where he put all his important documents. For all practical purposes I am the only one who has access. I have no reason for doing anything my father couldn't have done himself.

30 years ago when the trust was set up my father had reasons for doing it that way. I don't know if not revoking the POA was an oversight. The more important question is why the agent wasn't notified when the POA was drawn up. The lawyer who drafted the original Trust sent a letter about the trust after my father passed away but nothing about the POA was sent.
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