Skip to content
 

Can Durable POA Conduct Transaction w/o Owner?

Answered by: 
Ken Golliher

Question: 
We have a joint account with durable POA and a Trust as POD. Two CDs came due and the POA wanted to come in to change the term from 30 months to 6 months. This entails closing old CD and opening a new one. Everything else remains the same. ( POA and POD) Can a durable POA conduct that transaction on behalf of the account owner?
Answer: 

There is no way to answer your question without reading the POA. The term "durable" does not indicate anything specific regarding the content of a POA except for the fact that it says it will remain in effect even if the principal is incapacitated.

The issue here is does the attorney-in-fact have the power to establish accounts with POD beneficiaries. Generally, the answer would be a simple "No," but the counter argument here would be that the attorney-in-fact is simply changing the length of existing accounts without changing their POD provisions.

First published on BankersOnline.com 7/15/13

First published on 07/15/2013

Filed under: 
Operations
Filed under operations as: 
IT

Report a problem with this page

Search Topics