What do I do when I can't find the power of attorney document for my mom?

My mother's doctor's office has a copy of her health POA and my mom's bank has a copy of her Financial POA. See if this is the same for your mom and ask them for a copy.

Check Lawyer
Doctor
Hospital
Constable
Notary Public
They all may have a copy of the POA doc, especially the physician.

Thank you all

CaptainSophia, if your Mom has a lot of assets, then I would recommend an "Elder Law Attorney" to draw up the Power of the Attorney, that is if your Mom is still able to understand what is a POA and that she would need to appoint a person to represent her.

My Power of Attorney is 17 pages long, it covers a lot of things that a POA off the internet wouldn't have. Plus my Elder Law Attorney requested that I have two names on the POA. One is my sig other, and the other is the Attorney herself [or the firm] as I have no immediate heirs.

contact your attorney.

Has your mother been in the hospital since the papers were signed? If so, possible they have a copy in her medical records. Definitely a copy of the medical power of attorney will be there, if she had it when she was admitted/ or got it while there. Possible the durable power of attorney will be there also.

If you have to make a new POA, there are Notaries that travel. They charge a lot, but they will go to you, not you to them.

POA must be notarized, at least in Vermont.

Proceed "as if" there is no POA document. Start from there.
What would you do now?

Where I live, the Power of Attorney and Wills are not recorded at the Court House. I know mine weren't, never were my late parents. Just not the norm here.

One would need to dig through a parent's file drawers or desks to see if the original is there. Sometimes elders will place such documents in a Bank Safety Deposit Box. Or in what is called a "strong box" which my Dad had hidden in his closet with a hatch lock... finding the key was another matter :P I was lucky, my parents had given me a copy of their Power of Attorneys and copies of their Wills many years ago. That is when I noticed such documents were older then dirt.

I agree with GardenArtist about the name of the law firm being in left upper corner of any legal documents that they have created. Usually there is also a heavy blue or grey paper cover.

Sophia, look on the left side of any documents you have, such as the Will (which I assume you have a copy of as you're Executrix). Most law firms I'm familiar with used what was used to known as "pleading paper", also used for estate planning documents. The name of the firm is on the left side, creating the left side margin.

Also, check who witnessed the Will and who notarized it. Often the attorney witnesses and one of the staff notarizes. If the notary is the same as one of the witnesses, there's a high possibility execution took place at the law firm of the attorney who prepared it.

Since you're co-signers on the bank account, I assume you've been handling her finances for a while? Do you have old checkbooks, old bank statements that you can check for payments to an attorney or law firm?

Check with the county to see if POAs are required to be filed/recorded. If so, pay the small charge to get a copy of it.

The lawyer who prepared the documents should have records, so should the county.

Here's an odd suggestion: if there's an agency who knows/trusts you and they have a copy of the POA [such as the ALF your mother's in] perhaps tell them what's happened and ask for a copy? Being prepared to show proper ID, of course.

also, when I signed my moms POA. it was in front of her attorney and then notorized. and then sent to the courts (?) and recorded in county records.
did someone have this done?

are you joint owner of bank accounts or are you trustee?

you have copy of will?

are you POA or is someone else?

do you know for sure there is a POA? but it just got mis-placed or lost?

No and No she is not capable of signing anything. I have been signing for her for a while. She has my name on all bank accounts and executor of the will.

Do you know which lawyer drew it up? If so, maybe they kept a copy. If not, is your mother competent to sign a new one?