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Digital Assets and Passwords for Agents and Executors

Paul Premack

Jul 28, 2014

Digital Assets and Passwords for Agents and Executors

Dear Mr. Premack: Although I am 92, I have kept up with and use a computer regularly. My son has helped me to establish online banking accounts, credit card information, email, Facebook, pictures and a lot more. I’m enjoying it very much. Yesterday my son asked how I am keeping my passwords, and we started wondering if my son could legally access all my computer files if I become disabled. Do you have any suggestions? – J.K. Your situation would not have been a topic even fiv

Paul Premack

Dec 3, 2013

Multiple Q&A

Custodial Accounts for Grandchildren Dear Mr. Premack: A savings account is established in a credit union for my three granddaughters. My will states that the money is in a trust. I do not see how my executor can even have the power to handle this account if she is not listed on my account. I am confused about this, in case of my death how does the bank handle this matter? – LCA There are two answers. First: If the account “established… for my three granddaughters” is already

Paul Premack

Sep 2, 2013

Honoring Mom’s Final Medical Instructions

Dear Mr. Premack: My mother is hospitalized with a serious condition, and I am named as the decision maker in her medical power of attorney. Her doctor wants to discharge her to hospice, and says that she has just a few months to live. I am not sure whether to insist that she get moved to a skilled care nursing home (my sister is pushing for life support or anything we can do to prolong mom’s life). Mom’s living will says she does not want “life sustaining treatments”. What a

Paul Premack

Jul 10, 2013

Varieties of Powers of Attorney

Dear Mr. Premack: Does a power of attorney have to be notarized in order for it to be valid? – CRM Your question is deceptively simple because you say “power of attorney.” There are a variety of legal instruments which can be classified as powers of attorney. Let me cover the options and in the process answer your question. All powers of attorney are based on common law of agency and on statutes about agency. A principal (the person granting power) appoints an agent (the pers

Paul Premack

Mar 11, 2013

Land Title is Controlled by Probated Will

Dear Mr. Premack: My father owned his own home for many years, free and clear. He got married for the second time. He did not change the deed to the house, but did name his wife (and her son as alternate) as agents in his durable power of attorney. The power of attorney is recorded with the county clerk’s office. Recently my father died without having a Will filed with the probate court. Does the durable power of attorney give his wife full control of my father’s estate? How

Paul Premack

Jul 10, 2012

Growing Use of Online Services Poses Dilemma for Agent

Dear Mr. Premack: My aunt has been a woman ahead of her time. Although she is now in her 80’s, she has been working with computers for 20+ years. She was the first in our family to send emails, to embrace a digital camera, to sign up for Facebook. She does her banking and her brokerage online, and has gone paperless whenever a service provider offered the option. Now she has had a stroke. She gave me durable power of attorney a few years ago. To do my job of paying her bills

Paul Premack

Dec 9, 2011

How can wife sell home when husband is disabled?

Dear Mr. Premack: My husband had a major stroke last month. He is getting better in rehab but may be there for weeks more. We are joint on all our bank accounts and I’m able to pay the bills but other issues are coming up. I don’t think I can bring him home, and want us both to move to assisted living. I want to sell the house, but am being told that I can’t sell without his signature. He is still confused and is unable to sign his name. Can I use the power of attorney for th

Paul Premack

Nov 18, 2011

How does a power of attorney fare when guardianship is filed?

Dear Mr. Premack: I am currently seeking guardianship of a relative with severe dementia who is currently in a nursing home. Will a guardianship supersede any previous durable power of attorney given by my relative to someone else, which was verbally rescinded (with witnesses) but never actually rescinded in writing? – TTR Texas law defines two ways that the financial and personal issues for a person (like your relative with dementia) can legally be managed by a second person

Paul Premack

Jul 8, 2011

More on Springing General Durable Powers of Attorney

Dear Mr. Premack: I went to your website for information on powers of attorney. I understand the difference between a durable power of attorney and a medical power of attorney. What I don’t get is the difference when you talk about a springing power of attorney. What is the difference between durable and springing? Aren’t they both so I can choose someone to help with my finances and pay bills for me? Thanks. – H.R. Thanks for visiting my website. You may have been looking at

Paul Premack

Jun 3, 2011

Why is bank demanding a Doctor’s letter for wife to use POA?

Dear Mr. Premack: My husband is incapacitated and I am agent under his Power of Attorney. Recently I placed some of our assets in a ladder of CDs. I opted to have these in my name with my husband as beneficiary, thinking this would provide protect his rights without my having to use his Power of Attorney. Using the Power of Attorney has been troublesome in the past as I have been asked to provide a “current” doctor’s authorization. Have I handled the CDs in a legal way? I am

Paul Premack

Apr 29, 2011

Mom Lets Son Manipulate Her into a Potential Family Conflict

Dear Mr. Premack: My mother named me as agent in her Statutory Durable Power of Attorney in 2003. In 2010 my brother convinced her to name him as agent, and she signed a new Statutory Durable Power of Attorney. He has taken over her financial affairs with the exception of an inherited IRA that only I have information on. My brother has questionable judgment and lives with our mother. Although the rest of the family thinks Mom is incapacitated and thinks she did not understand

Paul Premack

Mar 12, 2011

Family Splits into Warring Factions Without Mom in Command

Dear Mr. Premack: My mother lives with my first sister and her husband. I had Power of Attorney in all mother’s finances and a third sister and I have joint owner accounts with mother at her bank. I paid all mother’s bills and took care of all her finances. She had accounts that held money from the sale of her house. My first sister and her husband were using mother’s money, and spent most of it, so my third sister and I closed the accounts. We asked mother what she wanted to

Paul Premack

Mar 5, 2011

Is document that mashes-up legal concepts valid?

Dear Mr. Premack: I’ve had a friend for 50 years who is now elderly. She has a Durable Power of Attorney (with Trust Powers and Health Care Powers) signed and filed in 1996. As a trust it states that the authority will continue for a reasonable amount of time after death and shall end due to the appointment of a Guardian of the Estate by a Court of competent jurisdiction. Since then, I have been told that a Durable Power of Attorney ends when someone dies. Do the trust powers

Paul Premack

Jan 22, 2011

How long does Power of Attorney continue?

Dear Mr. Premack: I was handling a sale transaction for land as Agent under a durable power of attorney. The land-owner (for whom I am acting) died before the closing was finished. Would it be legal to complete the deal? How many days does the power of attorney carry over after death? – BH The durable power of attorney (if it was written to comply with Texas law) gave you authority to handle a wide variety of transactions for the principal (the person for whom you were acting

Paul Premack

Jan 8, 2011

Can daughter control visits to ill mother from other kids?

Dear Mr. Premack: My mom is under hospice care, my older sister is the POA and my mom is in my sister’s home. My sister is being as difficult about visits from the rest of the children, who live on the east coast. She set visitation hours as Tuesday-Friday 8-11am and 1-3:30 pm, and won’t allow visits on weekends or Mondays. My sister is very controlling and gets angry at the slightest provocation. We siblings are beginning to question the quality of mom’s care. Hospice sugges

Paul Premack

Oct 22, 2010

How can wife legally re-inter husband at a different cemetery?

Dear Mr. Premack: My stepfather died and was buried on authority of his son in a regular cemetery. My mother (his second wife) knows that he wanted to be buried in a veteran’s cemetery, not where his son put him. His son refuses to let my mother move the remains to a veteran’s cemetery. Is there anything she can do? TJH To address your question, we have to inspect laws in the Texas Probate Code, the Texas Health & Safety Code, and documents your father may have made under Tex

Paul Premack

Sep 21, 2010

Power of Attorney Does not Grant Right to Access Trust

Dear Mr. Premack: My mother signed a living trust agreement about ten years ago. She also signed a durable power of attorney. I am the alternate Trustee and am agent under the power of attorney. Mom was hospitalized recently. She’s doing ok, but I told her I’d help with paying her bills. I took the power of attorney to the bank so I could get on her account and they said because the account is held in trust I can’t use the power of attorney for the account. That doesn’t make

Paul Premack

Sep 11, 2010

No One Else Can Create Your Power of Attorney

Dear Mr. Premack: My sister had a power of attorney drawn up for each of my grandparents. She is named as the agent. Is there a way to change it so both of our names are listed as equal parts of the power of attorney? Our grandparents are both in different stages of dementia. – E.B. Your letter worries me. A durable power of attorney is an important and powerful legal tool. The person who signs the power of attorney (the principal) is appointing an agent who has broad legal p

Paul Premack

Feb 27, 2010

When does my power of attorney expire?

Dear Mr. Premack: I signed a general power of attorney six years ago. I want to know if it will ever expire. Thank you. — BA To know if it will expire, we have to define some terms. Generically, a “power of attorney” is a written delegation of authority from one person to another, so the second person can take certain actions on behalf of the first person. The creator of a power of attorney – the one who is delegating the authority — is called the “principal”. The person rece

Paul Premack

Nov 11, 1989

Durable Power of Attorney Saves Time, Money

A Durable Power of Attorney can save time and money and can reduce confusion if you become unable to handle your own finances. You need not be wealthy to find uses for a Durable Power of Attorney. By signing a Durable Power of Attorney, you give someone of your choice (an Agent) power to act in your place. There are two basic types of power of attorney: Durable and Regular. To be Durable, your power of attorney must say something like “This power of attorney will not terminat