Power of attorney can i sign checks

The two most common methods for legally assisting an individual in financial matters are through a Power of Attorney or becoming a joint account holder. Powers of Attorney can be for medical decisions, financial decisions, or both. The form of a Power of Attorney varies from state-to-state; for instance, Pennsylvania recently overhauled its Power of Attorney laws effective January 1, In Pennsylvania, a Power of Attorney must be signed by the Principal and two witnesses in the presence of a notary public.

Whenever the Agent acts on behalf of the Principal, he or she should provide a copy of the Power of Attorney to the financial institution as evidence of the authority to act.

So long as the Power of Attorney is validly executed, financial institutions are required by law to accept the Power of Attorney. Joint ownership, the second method of assisting an individual with financial affairs, operates much differently than a Power of Attorney. Upon the proper execution of these forms, both the original owner and new owner are considered joint account owners for the account.

As joint owners, each owner has full access to the funds in the account and may make decisions concerning the account, such as signing checks, making deposits and withdrawals, and other transactions. It is important to note that most joint account owners may act individually or jointly; as such, one joint account owner may complete transactions for the account without the input or approval of the other joint owner.

Changing an account from individual ownership to joint ownership means that all joint owners are considered equal owners of the account, regardless of who actually contributed money to the account. As such, if an elderly parent adds one child onto a bank account as a joint owner, the funds in the account are considered to belong to both the parent and the child, even if the child never contributes any money to the account.

As such, the child-joint owner could use the funds in the joint account for his or her personal needs. In addition, the act of adding a someone as a joint owner on a financial asset could be treated as a gift to that individual. This gift could prove problematic if the elderly parent seeks to qualify for long-term care through Medical Assistance within five years of making this gift. It is important to note that there is a key distinction between adding an individual to a bank account as a joint owner and adding an individual to an account as an authorized signer.

The authorized signer functions like an Agent under a Power of Attorney; as such, the authorized signer is not considered an owner of the account. Or, perhaps Laura was Jane's realtor, and Jane asked her to endorse the escrow check as a convenience. People also use POAs to authorize a family member or trusted friend to handle their affairs if they are currently no longer able to handle them.

The could be a short-term disability, like being out of town or in hospital, or a permanent authorization, like for mental incompetence.

A person must be mentally competent initially to make a POA, but the POA document can specify that the authority applies to any future period when the maker becomes incompetent. When you endorse a check for someone as their attorney-in-fact, you must make clear that you are signing as an agent.

To do this, you can use one of two procedures. You can sign the person's name first, then follow it with "by [your name] under POA. Teo Spengler earned a J. Often, power of attorney is used for business decisions or legal matters that the principal cannot attend to, meaning they must send an agent with the right to sign for them in certain circumstances. Whether you are signing checks for elderly parents or helping a friend at the end of their life, it is essential that the power of attorney agreement specifically outline your right to participate in financial processes, if this is what you need to do.

The principal is the individual who creates and drafts the statement declaring what powers of attorney the agent has, and they can only do so when they have the full requisite mental capacity to complete this order and documentation.

Once an individual has been incapacitated physically or mentally, they may lose the ability to grant permission, which means that an agent's power of attorney could be revoked. In order for a principal to bestow the power of attorney onto an individual even in the event of incapacitation, the documentation must specifically describe durable power of attorney, which allows the agent to maintain their rights even if the principal becomes unable to grant specific permission.

This often happens in the case of terminal illness, where an individual might want to grant decision rights to a loved one that will be sustained even when they can no longer specifically grant permission.

Someone appointed with power of attorney can in fact sign a check for another individual, as long as the POA agreement grants them the right to execute these financial transactions. The document that was created and signed as the power of attorney agreement was enacted will detail all of the specific cases in which the agent is able to sign in the principal's name.