Bank shut down due to POA?

mommyandme (m&m)

Our experience with moms bank account was difficult. My brother, her son, had POA (I was secondary). When the funeral home alerted social security that she was deceased, that alerted her bank also. My brother and I were waiting for a few things to clear so we could shut it down. The bank suddenly locked the account down and told us they were going to do a 30 day audit, no access til that was done. We had to wait to finalize things. Of course, outstanding payments were returned leaving open statements we needed to deal with. When they were finally done with the “audit” they didn’t allow access by my brother any longer cause he was the POA. They told him if he was just her son and not POA then he could have access. WTF! They sent him the remaining balance in the account which was less than expected, and it was over. Unfortunately we had no idea of what was really paid or not, we couldn’t look at the transactions. We got bills that we had paid already but couldn’t reconcile. These bills came upwards of $10,000. We paid them with some of the remaining balance from her checking and the rest out of our own pockets.

So when does the financial POA get denied reasonable access to a LOs bank account? I don’t get it. We could have been taken advantage of but have no idea!

BassetHoundAnn

From all that I've heard, POA ends at death. At that point the bank account is under the control of the executor of the estate, although I don't know how that transition occurs.

When my mom still had her faculties she put my name on all her bank accounts, with "and." Supposedly I'll be able to make transactions on those accounts after her death. Although the bank tells me that prior to her death I can't use the POA to change those accounts in any fashion. For instance, change a CD into another CD with a higher interest rate. Because the POA does not allow me to create a new account with my name on it.

It's all very confusing isn't it?

Ed1937

Hi m&m. Ann is right. POA ends at death. I can tell you that some financial services are easier than others when it comes to working with the customer, although I think they will all cease access to certain things after death. Our daughter used the same bank we did, but she used a different branch. She knew the manager a little at her branch, and when I had to make changes because of dementia, we went to her branch to speak with the manager for suggestions on best way to handle banking accounts. The manager was very thorough when setting things up for us. I had previously used Chase, and they were much more difficult to work with.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Quilting brings calm

Yes POA ends at death. A joint account automatically passes to the remaining living account owners. If a pay on death is listed, then it goes to that person. Otherwise it goes to the estate

My son recently passed away without a will-so no estate executor. My spouse and I had to file in court to be appointed as the estate administrators ( representatives). When we get the court documents, I will need to take them to the bank and then I will be granted access to his accounts. I will transfer them to a new account ‘estate of x’ to pay remaining bills and settle the estate.

mommyandme (m&m)

Thank you for your input, everyone! This was basically the only kink in our process. Mom had everything taken care of well before her mind health began to deteriorate. I posed this question to also alert others to make sure things are in order. Definitely an oversight on our part.

I miss her terribly.

Jo C.

This is the sort of dynamic that can cause so many unforeseen problems. When my mother and step-dad wanted me to manage their accounts, the POAs were not honored by the bank; each bank had their own bank POA. So . . . . parents put my name on each of their accounts as an owner. It really concerned me lest something untoward would happen, but all went well.

Somehow, in the midst of their early onsets, they had a person; a paralegal come to their house to do a Trust; I did not know they were doing this. It was rather a pokey sort of Trust, but they did not have a huge estate. The Trust held up after death which was a good thing as I needed the documentation to settle several different items as I was Trust Executor.

What my husband and I have done, was to establish a Trust with a pour-over Will and POAs for Healthcare and Finance. We assigned one son and one daughter as Executor and secondary Executor if first one could not or would not conduct business. At first I also thought of having one of their names on all of our accounts; BUT it dawned on me that would leave some gaps - such as what would happen if that adult child was sued for any reason; even from a car accident, that would mean that person would be an owner of our money and our savings and investments would be at risk, so we did not do that.

We consulted an attorney and all of our assets have been put into the, "Doe Family Trust." This protects the assets and also gives our Executors the power to do what needs to be done if we cannot do so for ourselves or if we are deceased. Fuss and bother, but it prevents a lot worse fuss and bother later on. Not cheap, but worth every penny to have a Trust done.

J.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

mommyandme (m&m)

Thank you for all your insights and wisdom! This info is so important and valuable. It’s amazing what we don’t know until we have to.

Such an overwhelming journey but the support I’ve received here, from this forum, helped immensely. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Donna11

Not only do banks have their own ways to distribute any money in an account after death so do other financial institutions such as Vanguard, Fidelity etc. I just learned that in addition to my son's POA he has to fill out 2 Vanguard forms in order to manage his dad's account now. So be sure while still living that all financial accounts are set up per the institution's requirements.

FloydSnax

M&M!! I went through something similar TODAY! My mother just passed on Monday and my sister has been on me to go pull that money out before the bank takes my moms hard earned money for themselves. But of course, my heads been in the sand and the furthest thing I wanted to think about was money...But the thought of my mom's money being withheld and all the drama that comes with it, had me racing to the versateller to withdraw anything I could. And to my surprise, a smooth transaction. First thing tomorrow morning I have to do the same thing. Good luck

mommyandme (m&m)

I’m so sorry you’ve lost your dear mom, and rather suddenly with no control. Heartbreaking!

I hear you about not wanting to think about money. My bro and I weren’t comfortable discussing the money either, but we had to.

This whole journey and beyond is pretty gut wrenching. We’ve done our best.