Invalid Power of Attorney - Legal Name Incorrect

janhu

Help or advice needed:  The person I care for drew up a durable POA via Legal Zoom prior to his dementia.  At this point, however, he is no longer competent to sign documents, etc. so a friend who was assigned power of attorney is trying to invoke it.

Problem: The POA document appointed his friend Tom, but Tom's legal name is Thomas, and the bank won't recognize the POA as valid because the POA lists "Tom" and not "Thomas" as attorney-in-fact.

Are there any easy solutions or work-arounds to this problem?  The person with dementia is unmarried with no children or other close relatives.  His communicative ability is very low and he is unable to sign his name.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

ButterflyWings

I am not a lawyer. A CELA is the best expert to guide you. When I had a similar situation due to married name vs POA and estate documents naming me years before (using maiden name at the time), I had to provide a notarized affidavit and a notarized “one and the same” document verifying the two names were one and the same person to move forward with my LOs wishes. It helped that their long time atty knew that I was indeed who I was claiming to be, and drew up the required documents for me/us.

Banks and financial institutions generally, are very strict regarding POAs and access to folks’ money, understandably. What is it that Tom is seeking to do exactly? There may be another solution. The CELA can help. 

harshedbuzz

I agree with BW. 

This is something for a CELA to sort out.

It could be that the legal name is the sticking point, but it could be some other piece. It could be the boilerplate Legal Zoom document doesn't give the agent the ability to do what they're attempting to do. It could be the POA is no "durable" and valid for a PWD or that it's springing and needs to have a letter from one or more physicians to be valid.

If the POA can't be made valid, then this person may need to look into guardianship or conservatorship or contact APS about a legal professional guardian being appointed. 

HB

janhu

It's the name, which I found out is called scrivner's error