I have a POA in place for my mother-in-law. My POA is dated 2005 and has never been rescinded. I need to arrange for more funds for her ongoing support through her credit union account but the credit union says the POA is too old! My mother-in-law is 93 and not mentally competent. I was able to sell her house 18 months ago so I have been using those funds to pay her rent. How do I get the credit union to honor my POA?
You are going to need to attend an elder law attorney if you cannot access account. It is too late, as you observe, to do another POA. I suspect the problem isn't the age but how it was done or by whom. If this is a solid POA by an attorney it is actually ILLEGAL not to recognize it. So you need an elder law attorney to start with some attorney letters to the bank. You may need emergency guardianship, and APS may be able to help you get that; in some states they can make a call to a judge of a court and get it.
Sorry. What a mess. Very distressing. Wish you good luck.
These are legal matters which require a professional, licensed attorney.
States have differing requirements. Do not rely on feedback here as each (legal) situation has extenuating circumstances.
Gena / Touch Matters
I know from personal experience with 3 different banks and a few annuity companies that financial institutions all have different criteria for accepting PoA. But I've never heard that the document is "too old"... that's ridiculous if the paperwork was executed properly, fully and legally but I guess anything is possible. I would consult with an attorney.
Another thing you can do is setup an online account in her name with her email and see what can be done online. When I tried to move money from her checking account and could not, the 1-800 number told me to move a few dollars into the account and see if that worked. Then move what I needed to move out after that. Keep records of every transaction with her money. I have an office file cabinet and labeled folders. It is a big job!
I changed her address fairly easily using her online access. I may try to pull out her money with MetLife which has tax consequences. In person, a local bank in her state accepted my POA just fine. Merrill Lynch required their own forms to be signed by her and did not accept the old POA which was done about a block from their office in the 90's. They did come to her house when I was there.
Everyone needs to verify their POA.
What exactly do you need from the credit union?
P.S. The reason why they are being extra careful is because of all the scams that target seniors and withdrawls of large amounts of money. It might be worthwhile to talk to an elder lawyer (look for state lawyer referral programs) to ensure you have up-to-date docs for her, before she dies. Estate and healthcare law has changed quite a bit since 2005.
I suggest you ask the credit union for a written explanation of why they are not honoring it.
Beyond that, I suggest consulting with an elder law attorney in your area. See https://www.naela.org/
As someone else suggested perhaps having her attorney attach an appropriate statement to her current POA may work. The problem with your POA may be the wording. When we consulted an eldercare/estate attorney about a trust, she looked over all our other documents. She told us everything was still valid but pointed out several law changes that left loop holes that may cause issues later but did not specifically say the age of the documents. Because of that we decided to have them redone. Ours is only five years old, but it is a good question to run by our attorney.