Misuse of Power of Attorney

[nicolen1130]

What is the name of your state? Florida

My grandfather named my mother POA when he first received the news that he had colon cancer in 2001. He survived the surgery and lived pretty happy and healthy ontil March of this year. When he became ill my mother knew it didnt look good...so she decided to use her POA and take the money from his 3 bank accounts and cds and place it all into her account..when she found out that she could go to jail for this she quickly distributed the money to her 5 brothers and sisters..thinking that they would get in trouble with her. my grandfather died shortly after..now she believes that she still has the power "to do what ever she wants"..from what I understand about Florida law she lost the POA when he died and she does not become the executor of the estate until the judge assigns her..is this correct? also now she took all of the valuables out of his house in order to appraise and then sell and is telling the family that if they want any of the items in the house they have to pay her for then..icing on the cake is she forged a check for $465 out of the one account that she couldnt touch due to my grandfathers ex-girlfriends name being on the account..she wrote the date on the check 2 days before my grandfather died..my aunt refused to cash it and instead gave it to her lawyer..my question is what kind of trouble is mother looking at and what can my family due to stop this from progressing? he does have a will she is just ignoring what it says as she did when she ignored his living will and had him on life support for two weeks and had him buried when he want to bo cremated and dumped into the ocean with his wife who passed several years ago.

 

[tranquility]

There is substantial trouble your mother can get into. There is certainly some criminal possibilities that come to mind as well as breach of her fiduciary duties. Although the criminal penalties are greater, the civil should worry more as any beneficiary can bring suit for them. I wouldn't even know where to start if your mother came into the office. The number of breaches and crimes committed could be large.

She must see an attorney. I'd start with one knowledgable in probate matters, but he may want her to see a criminal one as well. (Although may wait until the police get involved in some way.) While you can't shut the door after the horse has left the barn, there are steps to take which might start the clock ticking on any suit a person could bring against your mother and getting a factual predicate laid out early could help in the long run. I don't think the state will become involved, but you never know and there is certainly things here which are problematical.

 

[seniorjudge]

My grandfather named my mother POA when he first received the news that he had colon cancer in 2001. He survived the surgery and lived pretty happy and healthy ontil March of this year. When he became ill my mother knew it didnt look good...so she decided to use her POA and take the money from his 3 bank accounts and cds and place it all into her account..when she found out that she could go to jail for this she quickly distributed the money to her 5 brothers and sisters..thinking that they would get in trouble with her. my grandfather died shortly after.

If she did that while gramps was alive under the authority of a POA, how could she get in trouble?




But the authority of the POA died with gramps.

 

[nicolen1130]

Thanks

thank you for the info..from what I understand the POA can only move funds to pay bills..that is if its necessary..she moved close to $70,000 into an account that had her and my grandfathers name on it which previous to this only had $1 in it.

 

[seniorjudge]

thank you for the info..from what I understand the POA can only move funds to pay bills..that is if its necessary..she moved close to $70,000 into an account that had her and my grandfathers name on it which previous to this only had $1 in it.

Without the EXACT wording of the POA, no one can guess what it means.

 

[tranquility]

If she did that while gramps was alive under the authority of a POA, how could she get in trouble?

It is extremely unusual for a POA to cover the giving of gifts without court supervision. Most probate codes have specific prohibitions against it--for obvious reasons. Also, a POA self-dealing by taking titled assets (Grandfather's accounts) and placing it into her's is prohibited even if the powers allowed it. A fiduciary is supposed to keep his assets seperate from the person. Also, unless the POA had a specific power to make and change investments, removing the money from a CD would be a violation. Many others depending on the facts and the instrument.

 

[nicolen1130]

another question

A judge hasn't named the executor of the estate yet..I think she is named the executor on the will, but, at this point,does my mother have any or more power over her brothers and sisters??...also she has a criminal record which includes drug charges, will this effect the judge's decision?

sorry one more..when she divided the money in the account she took 3% more for herself,stating that its owed to her for being POA and EOE..then she left 10,000 to "use for bills and funeral expenses"but is now saying that any money used for the funeral,including flowers will be added up and divided out of everybody's share of the estate..is this wrong?

 

[lwpat]

Using estate money to pay for funeral expenses is the correct thing to do. However, until the court names her as the personal representative she has no authority to spend the money. Someone needs to contest her being named the PR. Go to the probate court and get a copy of the file and then see an attorney.

 

[nicolen1130]

new news

even though she already put the $10,000 aside for this purpose its okay for her to demand the money from everyone's share?? also my grandfather DID NOT want to be buried and she did it anyway behind everyones back and told everyone 2 days after he was cremated then buried....new info, my aunt and her went into my grandfathers house, w/o telling any of the family, and took all of the valuables including the change jar, yes shes that low..they left the house completly trashed and threw away alot of things that the family wanted to keep for memory purposes. What can the family do to get some of this stuff back before she just sells it?