Friday, July 3, 2015

Legal Issues – Revoking prior Powers of Attorney

From Jim Koewler's The Koewler Law Firm website

The agent named in a now-revoked POA may not be happy about being
replaced.  That deposed agent may use the authority in the old POA to
take actions with the principal’s assets.  The bank or investment office
or real estate agent (or anyone else, for that matter) has no way to
know that the POA has been revoked.  (Not many former agents would act
out in this manner, but those few that would certainly can hurt their
principals.)

To avoid an old POA being accepted as current, there are practical steps (in addition to the legal steps) to revoke an old POA.

The principal should try to retrieve all of the copies of the prior
POAs.  Retrieving all of them can be a daunting task if there are a
number of copies.  (Most POAs have a statement that a copy is to be
honored just like an original, so retrieval of copies is important.)

For advice, representation and peace of mind through these difficult issues, contact Jim Koewler of The Koewler Law Firm.

Legal Issues when someone has Dementia – Revoke prior Powers of Attorney |