Is this POA form adequate for the purpose?

[Mark2365]

What is the name of your state? Arizona
A friend recently put his mom (age 88, with very slight dementia) into an Assisted Living facility.
He needs to get a POA so that he can sell mom's house to pay the $4k monthly cost.
He says she would have no problem appearing to be of sound mind.
Is this form (found online) sufficient for that purpose?:
https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/media/5104/gnpoa10fz.pdf
All parties are in Mohave County, but the form apparently comes from Maricopa County.
Many Thanks.
p.s. I Love this forum. You folks are Very helpful and informative.
Mark2365

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? Arizona
A friend recently put his mom (age 88, with very slight dementia) into an Assisted Living facility.
He needs to get a POA so that he can sell mom's house to pay the $4k monthly cost.
He says she would have no problem appearing to be of sound mind.
Is this form (found online) sufficient for that purpose?:
https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/media/5104/gnpoa10fz.pdf
All parties are in Mohave County, but the form apparently comes from Maricopa County.
Many Thanks.
p.s. I Love this forum. You folks are Very helpful and informative.
Mark2365

You should call Mohave County.

 

[adjusterjack]

All parties are in Mohave County, but the form apparently comes from Maricopa County.

I'm not finding any POA forms on Mohave County's court website:

https://mohavecourts.com/court forms/forms.htm

Your friend will have to decide for himself whether the Maricopa County form is adequate for his purposes. Perhaps a brief consult with a lawyer would help.

 

[quincy]

The Mohave County Court should know if the form from Maricopa County Court can be used, although a Mohave County area attorney could tell you that, too (possibly for free).

 

[Zigner]

I agree and strongly suggest that the person(s) who need the power of attorney should, at least, have a brief talk with an attorney about the matter.

Having said that: The form referenced by the OP gives no indication that it is not valid statewide. The only reference to Maricopa County is the copyright notice in the footer.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The law of agency (which is the area of law that covers powers of attorney) is state law and not county specific. The form you linked was created by the Maricopa County Superior Court but is not limited to use in just that county. After all, powers of attorney are valid without any requirement to file them in court or with any state or county agency — they don't get filed with the court unless they are evidence in some court dispute.

Now whether that form is a actually any good or appropriate for your friend's mother to use for what she wants is something for which your friend and his mother would need to see an attorney. The court staff cannot give your friend legal advice.

 

[adjusterjack]

An issue that the friend might face is that a title/escrow company is likely to require the seller to personally appear before its notary to sign all the closing documents (despite the POA), as I did when I sold my old house recently. The title/escrow company may be able to bring the papers to the seller for completion. The friend should contact the title/escrow officer in advance to make appropriate arrangements.

 

[FlyingRon]

It would be best to contact the people handling the settlement (lawyer, escrow house, title company, depending on your region) as to what they prefer as they are the ones who will throw up any roadblocks. I've not had any problem buying and selling properties in NJ and VA (can't vouch for AZ) with a power of attorney. I can tell you it does get tedious signing "Mrs. FlyingRon by FlyingRon her attorney in fact" over and over again on the countless forms involved. Also sold one for my Mother-in-Law that way after she was put in assisted living (but fortunately still lucid enough to sign documents).

One thing that also comes to mind for your friend while mom is still lucid is to get her to sign general and medical powers of attorney and an advanced medical directive (living will), and perhaps even a regular will. We were extremely fortunate to get this done on the M-I-L before she became incompetent. We never expected the will to even be an issue (we had carefully timed out spending her last assets on the nursing care and funeral), but we ended up needing that as a surprise asset came up in the estate (turns out another friend willed her some money and she passed about the same time).

 

[LdiJ]

An issue that the friend might face is that a title/escrow company is likely to require the seller to personally appear before its notary to sign all the closing documents (despite the POA), as I did when I sold my old house recently. The title/escrow company may be able to bring the papers to the seller for completion. The friend should contact the title/escrow officer in advance to make appropriate arrangements.

I had that happen to me once and I insisted that the title/escrow company was wrong. They consulted their attorney and discovered that I was right.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I had that happen to me once and I insisted that the title/escrow company was wrong. They consulted their attorney and discovered that I was right.

A buyer or title company is not required to accept any POA though. So while you were right in that a valid POA is sufficient for deed & other documents to be good they still could have insisted the actual seller/buyer show up anyway.

 

[LdiJ]

A buyer or title company is not required to accept any POA though. So while you were right in that a valid POA is sufficient for deed & other documents to be good they still could have insisted the actual seller/buyer show up anyway.

I understand. However, it wasn't about them having that kind of policy/procedure. They insisted that it could not be done at all. I insisted that it could. Their attorney backed me up, so they let things proceed.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I understand. However, it wasn't about them having that kind of policy/procedure. They insisted that it could not be done at all. I insisted that it could. Their attorney backed me up, so they let things proceed.

Yep, that's what figured — they were insisting it couldn't work, which is where the lawyer can be helpful in explaining that they were mistaken on that. Had it been the case that they just didn't want to deal with the agent then it wouldn't have mattered whether you were right, they'd still not have done it. The point for the OP's friend is, as others have said, he/she needs to check with the other parties to the transaction to be sure what they will accept. Even if the form that the OP found is just what the OP's mother wants and needs, they don't want to get to closing only to find out that the other parties insist that Mom be there and that they won't take a POA.

 

[zddoodah]

Is this form (found online) sufficient for that purpose?

To tell someone whether a particular form is or isn't sufficient for a particular purpose is to give legal advice. To give such advice on an online forum would be dumb and, if the person giving the advice is not an attorney admitted in the relevant jurisdiction, illegal. To rely on such advice from an anonymous stranger would be incredibly foolish. Please encourage your friend to retain the services of an attorney.

 

[Mark2365]

Wow. Thanks very much for all of the input, people.
Like I said. . . Very helpful and informative.
Thank You, Thank You.