Dear Carol: As my parents aged, we all thought that we were taking care of the Legal issues necessary so that I, as Durable Power Of Attorney (DPOA) could handle anything that came along with their finances. Dad died two years ago, and Mom and I got through it. Now, Mom’s health is failing. She wanted me to change the account where her Social Security is deposited, so I called and found out that the DPOA would not allow me to do that. Fortunately, Mom’s memory is still good, so she was able to go to the attorney with me and she had me assigned as Representative Payee. The attorney told us that if Mom had a health issue where she couldn’t have answered the questions needed, I wouldn’t have been able to make the necessary changes. For us, that would have been merely inconvenient, but some people could have more important reasons for making these changes. Your column seemed to be the best way that I could think of to get the message out. Thanks for providing a great service. Janice
Read full column on Inforum about the documents needed to take care of loved ones:
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