Power of Attorney also a accidental death insurance program.

[Time2]

I have another thread going about helping a friend (Call him Bill) with memory issues.
He is locked out of his Fidelity account, I called the 800 number and we found out what he had to do to get into his account again. He must sign a Power of Attorney form that Fidelity is sending and return it to Fidelity. I could not get a reason why they did this, but I suspect to many RMD checks remaining un-deposited and needing re-issuing and his calls to them with him trying to resolve problems and ot having the ability to do so. So, someone needs to take on the responsibility of Power of Attorney. I don't want that, his only other friend in the world doesn't want it, He has a nephew in a state 750 miles away, that may or may not do it, but he is not close enough to be aware of all that needs to be straightened out before, Bill dies, Bill is 86. Tell me what you know about Power of Attorney and is there such a thing as limited (time or scope) of Power of Attorney.
On another subject, in scouring around opening un-opened envelopes, I found an Accidental death and dismemberment policy signed on 7-08-25, so just recently. First he doesn't need any insurance, second and tell me if I'm wrong, an Accidental Death and dismemberment policy will not payout if he dies from heart disease, which he has.
I want to help, but I don't want to take on the responsibility of a full Power of attorney. I will try to get him to cancel the insurance policy, might even try to get back any premiums he has paid. I think the sale may be elder abuse.
Tell me what you know about these subjects. Thanks.

 

[joesxm3]

I am pretty sure you can have a power of attorney that is very limited.

For example, a power of attorney could grant power only to sell your house, or could only be in force for a month while you are in the hospital, or only on one account.

So, conceivably, you could have him sign a power of attorney limited to dealing with Fidelity for the purpose of resolving his RMD check issues.

Now will that be enough to satisfy Fidelity who seem to want someone to take over for Bill?

Best to talk to an attorney who could draft and notarize the document and maybe with fidelity to see if a limited power of attorney will satisfy them.

 

[pb4uski]

Just because you have power of attorney doesn't mean that you are obligated to fulfill those duties, so I would suggest that your friend appoint you as POA as a backup with the idea of finding someone else to be appointed POA and take on the first line role in helping your friend.

 

[Time2]

I got the Accidental Death policy cancelled today. And this quarters payment will be reimbursed. Trying to do some back tracking to see if the nephew was in town when the policy was activated. The nephew is named the beneficiary, and we just wonder if he convinced Bill to sign his name on this $150k Accidental death policy and have his self named beneficiary. We do know he made a visit sometime around when this policy was taken out. We really question whether bill, would first, even open the envelope, second, fill in the information, third, put it in an envelope and put it in the mailbox, forth, spend $360 a year for it. He won't even pay for garbage service.

 

[engineernerd]

Hmmm...do you have contact info for the BIL you mentioned in your other thread? Have you chatted on the phone with him at all yet? If he's a good guy and you can forge a good relationship with him, maybe he'd be willing to be the POA even from where he lives, given your and John's ability to report back on Bill's status. And he could probably tell you something about the characters of his sons (you might have to read between the lines, of course).

 

[gauss]

^ Not good....

I got the Accidental Death policy cancelled today. And this quarters payment will be reimbursed. Trying to do some back tracking to see if the nephew was in town when the policy was activated. The nephew is named the beneficiary, and we just wonder if he convinced Bill to sign his name on this $150k Accidental death policy and have his self named beneficiary. We do know he made a visit sometime around when this policy was taken out. We really question whether bill, would first, even open the envelope, second, fill in the information, third, put it in an envelope and put it in the mailbox, forth, spend $360 a year for it. He won't even pay for garbage service.

 

[zinger1457]

Does your friend have a will and an estate attorney? Usually the POA is listed in that document and would require a note from a doctor stating the person is incapacitated for the POA to take over. Is some cases where no family members are good choices the 'trusted' estate attorney is selected as the POA.

 

[Time2]

Hmmm...do you have contact info for the BIL you mentioned in your other thread? Have you chatted on the phone with him at all yet? If he's a good guy and you can forge a good relationship with him, maybe he'd be willing to be the POA even from where he lives, given your and John's ability to report back on Bill's status. And he could probably tell you something about the characters of his sons (you might have to read between the lines, of course).

Well, we maybe could do that, but the truth is John and I questioned the BIL's mental status, because he sometimes didn't remember things. He is also in his late 80s.
Now we have to question the nephew, we will call him WD. There is a question about WD's honesty from much earlier when we thought he was trying to get a motorcycle from Bill. Last summer Bill said someone broke in and stole his motorcycle, (I didn't think this happened) we later found from the nephews son, that WD bought the motorcycle from Bill for $1,200. I was talking with the BIL asking about the motorcycle, BIL had no idea about the motorcycle when in the background I heard WDs son say ya, we bought that from Bill. We have know way to know if Bill actually got $1,200.

 

[Time2]

Does your friend have a will and an estate attorney? Usually the POA is listed in that document and would require a note from a doctor stating the person is incapacitated for the POA to take over. Is some cases where no family members are good choices the 'trusted' estate attorney is selected as the POA.

We used to have a group breakfast, and it was often brought up that Bill should get a will. This was over a 15 year period. He has no will or POA. It may all end up in an attorneys hands, but I hate that, because they will bill their $300 an hour and do all they can to turn Bill's money into their money.

 

[SecondCor521]

Does your friend have a will and an estate attorney? Usually the POA is listed in that document

A will and a power of attorney are two different documents with two different purposes. It can be that the person who fills a POA role is also the executor in the will, but that's not a requirement.

and would require a note from a doctor stating the person is incapacitated for the POA to take over.

This is known as a springing power of attorney. Not all POAs are springing POAs. I'm not an attorney but I think that springing POAs are problematic.

 

[SecondCor521]

Tell me what you know about Power of Attorney and is there such a thing as limited (time or scope) of Power of Attorney.

As others have mentioned, there are limited POAs, and they can be limited in time or scope or both.

Bill needs to be legally competent to sign a POA. Probably better to try sooner than later if his mental abilities are in decline like it sounds.