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Resigning as Power of Attorney

I have decided to resign my position as my mother's agent. My sister is named as "First Successor" in the power of attorney.

Do I need to hire a lawyer, or can I write a simple letter of resignation and have it notarized?

Will my sister need to have a POA in her own name, or will my letter of resignation and the original POA (with her name as 1st successor) be sufficient for her to do our mother's business?


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Yes you can resign and if the document is on file at your Courthouse, make a statement you are resigning, mention your sister as succeeding you, have it notarized and file it. You don't say if your mother is incompetent, lives in the same state/area as you or if your sister is willing to accept her position, so I can only answer the question on the limited knowledge you gave. Good luck!
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Yes, discuss with sister first and ensure she is willing to accept these responsibilities. Consult an elder law attorney in the area where the POA was drawn up or the lawyer who drew up the original POA and explain what you will be doing. It should be very simple and inexpensive; but will need notarized to be legal.
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Short answer is 'YES'. From experience in NY, you will have to inform the county office in writing and notarized. Then a 'new' Durable Power of Attorney will need to be drawn. If the person you are seeking the POA for is not willing to agree with drawing a new POA -due to state of mind- you would be better served to seek 'Guardianship'. That is more costly and more time consuming. Either way there will be costs. The attorney used in my situation was $240, which excluded 'filing fee with Niagara County @ $54.00'.

I would go with the procedure of Guardianship. It will turn over ALL responsibility, and I do mean all. There are limitations that can be issued in the form of an 'addendum' by the judge or attorney. It is not something you want to enter into without due diligence.
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I was a co-power-of-attorney with my sister for our parents. I saw my sister spending their money on herself somI told her not to be spending money on herself. A few weeks later, she took $33,000 out of their checking account and won't tell me where she put it. she said she doesn't trust me! They both have dementia and she sold their house without telling me and had them sign the papers which they say they didn't know they did. Now she had them sign papers and took me off as a co-POA. Is that illegal since they have dementia and told me they didn't do that?
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Ibolitho: What she did is absolutely NOT LEGAL. You can actually have her prosecuted for taking their money and spending it on herself. There are to be records kept of all expenses and the money is to be spent on the parents care and welfare, I don't think you are even supposed to make charitable donations from their money from what I've read.

The new POA is not legal if they have dementia and she had them sign paperwork taking off your name. When my Mom gave me her POA we had to be in an attorney's office and he had to speak to her alone to make sure she was of sound mind and was not being forced to do this. The attorney can be held responsible if he did this knowing they had dementia.

How could your sister sell your parents home without you knowing what was going on? What happened to the money? You must not live close to your sister or parents not to realize what is happening.

I would suggest that you immediately go to an Elder Law Attorney and let them lead you, but you better fight it now before sis has every dime spent!
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Every one has given you great advice on turning over the power of attorney to your sister. Yes it does need to be a legal document as mentioned by others before. The only thing I would add, is to make sure your sister is updated on current situations and knows you mother's end of life wishes.
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If your sister is mis managing your mother's money, and she is not competent to make her own decisions. I would suggest you look in to a private person or the state or county handeling her affairs. I would hate for your mother's money to be spent down, and then she does not have the money to meet her medical needs. Depending on where you live, the state or the county will take over Guardianship, over her estate or medical. If you truly have concerns about how you sister is handing money, and it is to overwhelming to continue to battle with your sister over the money I suggest you give power of attorny to an outside person.
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