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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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