POA came in an made changes to exsisting account, making himself joint owner. Is the owner required to sign the signature card also or can the POA do this.

You need to look at the provisions of the POA. I would definitely question whether he has rights to change ownership of these funds (rights at death - he is now an owner and was not based on actions of principal).

I would also make sure appropriate due diligence is conducted regarding POA. Is it durable? When was it signed? If it was signed recently is there any reason to question the competency of the principal, and therefore the legitimacy, of the document? Alot to consider.

In general, a fiduciary is not allowed to take actions from which he or she would benefit. Creating a joint account with a right of survivorship benefits the fiduciary. It would be permissible if the POA specifically allowed it, impermissible if it did not.

You have stumbled upon a backhanded way to correct the fact that your bank allowed the apparent change in account ownership. Tell the attorney-in-fact that the owner must agree to the change; i.e. sign the signature card. (For there to be a right of survivorship in Texas, the card has to be signed by the person who died.)

Do not give the attorney-in-fact the card in order to obtain the owner's signature. Have the owner come in or send a bank employee to see the owner and make certain that joint ownership is what the owner wants and that he understands it is not necessary if all he wants is someone to sign on his account.

I respect Brenda C; she's the kind of person I would give a POA. Nevertheless, I would not give her the power to convert my property to her property.

Just trust me, Ken. I'll take care of everything. (A girl has needs ya know!)

Seriously, in order to manage POAs properly, I generally suggest that they be sent to a specified area such as legal or compliance for review prior to acceptance if that is possible. They can be very complicated and subject the bank to significant losses if handled improperly. Can you really expect your branch staff to read a lengthy legal document while answering the phone and handing out suckers?

Presumably prior to death!

Spew!!!

Thanks for your help. We have 2 new account's people that viewed this differently and I knew that I would get the correct answer here for them.