Can a Power of Attorney Transfer Money to Themselves?
Can a Power of Attorney Transfer Money to Themselves?
Eric Reed Tue, September 21
For many families with elderly people or engaged in estate planning, power of attorney is essential, especially if the elderly person’s mental abilities are compromised. Having someone who can take care of legal and financial matters can make this part of life far easier.
However, power of attorney is a sweeping grant of authority. Depending on how you structure this grant, a power of attorney can – in some cases – transfer money and property to themselves. However, it is uncommon and only allowed in specific circumstances. Here’s a general overview of this topic. Keep in mind that power of attorney laws vary by state. It’s prudent to consult an attorney before making any decisions.
A financial advisor can help you understand if there are alternatives to creating a power of attorney as you engage in estate planning.
What Is Power of Attorney?
Power of attorney is when you assign someone the authority to make legally binding decisions on your behalf. This can mean managing financial assets, making choices regarding medical care, signing contracts and other commitments. A power of attorney can access confidential materials and their decisions are as binding as if you had made them yourself.
Most of the time power of attorney is a limited grant of authority. That is to say, you will give someone power of attorney to do specific things or to act within a specific scope. For example, the IRS ordinarily would not accept taxes filed by a third party; you must file your taxes yourself.
However, assigning power of attorney to your tax preparer gives that person the authority to file your taxes as though you had done so yourself. This is a common practice and lets the tax preparer see a client’s confidential IRS and bank records, as well as filing taxes on the client’s behalf. Such power, however, doesn’t allow the person to sign contracts in your name or sell your car. Their authority is limited to reviewing your finances and filing documents with the IRS.
In some cases you may assign what’s known as general power of attorney. This is one of three types of durable power of attorney (the other two are special power of attorney and healthcare or medical power of attorney). With a general power of attorney, the person can make just about any decisions at all on your behalf while the power of attorney assignment remains valid. People will often make a general assignment to a trusted family member or long-time friend if they are going to be unreachable or incapacitated.
Limits on Power of Attorney Asset Transfers
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