May 23, 2023 • 11 mins
In this episode Jerry discusses what a power of attorney is, the various kinds and purposes,
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
The best things in life are free But you can give
(00:28):
them to Hey, hello, hello,
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
hello.
Welcome to the Pink BunnyPodcast.
I'm Jerry.
I'm your host and...
This is where we talk all thingsrelated to money from a gay
perspective.
And you know what I've beenthinking is, you know, as your
parents get older, what reallyhappens is there comes a point
that they...
are unable to handle theirfinancial affairs and make
(01:18):
decisions for themselves.
And when that happens, what youreally need to have in place is
a document like a power ofattorney that's going to allow
you to handle their financialaffairs for them.
So this is a document that youcan draw up with the help of an
attorney, right?
You can do some of the onlineones as well.
(01:39):
Usually they either have toprobably be notarized or at
least witnessed, etc.
And they have to be drawn updrawn up when the person is
capable of making that decisionto appoint you as their power of
attorney and be able to sign it.
Now, if you wait too long andthey're at the point that they
don't recognize you or they'reincapacitated, their dementia
(02:01):
has kicked in, they're notmaking those decisions or they
don't know who you are, etcetera, then obviously they're
not going to be able to sign itbecause that's not going to be
valid and it can be easilycontested.
So not something you want toreally wait on.
Now, when should you do it?
Hard to say, right?
I mean, you could do it foryourself right now.
(02:21):
You could wait.
It really depends.
A lot of people will drag theirfeet for whatever reasons on
doing a lot of the estateplanning documents, et cetera,
the wills, power of attorney,living will, those kind of
things.
But it's really a good ideabecause there's all sorts of
situations that could require apower of attorney.
Now, there's different kinds.
There can be a limited power ofattorney that you often see
(02:44):
sometimes for just very specificthings like like signing a
document or be able to handle aparticular transaction, etc.
Those are fairly common, andthey just sort of have like a
one-time use, so to speak.
And...
They're easy to execute becauseyou're only saying to this
person, hey, you can handle thissituation for me.
(03:06):
It's not like a general power ofattorney or a durable power of
attorney that gives them broadpowers to handle almost
everything on your behalfbecause you've then ceded that
authority over to this person.
Hopefully, it's someone that youtrust, rely on, and makes good
decisions.
Because they're going to bemaking those decisions for you.
(03:26):
There's also health care powersof attorneys so that if that
person is incapacitated, maybe,God forbid, there's an auto
accident or something and thatperson's on life support and you
need to make some health caredecisions for them.
That, again, is a tragicsituation, but it happens, and
that can happen, of course, atany age.
(03:48):
So good reasons to have powersof attorney.
There can be springing powers ofattorney, and that just says if
this event occurs, then thispower of attorney will go into
effect.
So it really just depends on howcomfortable you are, again,
giving that control to someoneand given the circumstances.
(04:11):
If you're just doing your estateplanning documents, you may just
appoint your spouse as yourpower of attorney.
It could be, though, that you'reon your own and you need to
appoint a friend.
It could be some relative, etcetera.
But it really just depends,right?
Yeah.
(04:31):
you've got to think aheadbecause even in that
circumstance, if let's say thatperson is unavailable or they
are unreachable for some reasonor incapacitated themselves or
they're dead, then that power ofattorney really didn't do
anybody any good.
(04:51):
So you've got to think ahead andmaybe get a couple people if,
again, the situation warrantsit.
So The things that I wasthinking about is, again, going
back to your folks, if you havethat kind of situation
happening, because a lot ofpeople, again, experience a lot
of depression.
you know, sad effects ofdementia as they get older.
(05:12):
I know I was speaking with afriend of mine this last
weekend, and she works in amemory care unit, and she was
telling me that, you know, sheexperiences a lot of, you know,
attachment to a lot of theresidents that unfortunately is
short-lived because, you know,the people pass away.
(05:35):
And it's very difficult because,of course, you know, your
attachment and you expect you'reattached and you expect them to
always be there.
And then something happens andthey're gone.
And she was just saying, youknow, that a lot of men
typically are going to pass awayat the age of 75.
And a lot of women typicallypass away at the age of 83.
(05:56):
And statistically, that's right.
I mean, usually I know that Ithink that we always used to say
that women, the wife willtypically outlive the husband by
at least 15 years after he dies.
Whether that's 100% true, Idon't know, but it's pretty
common.
I'm sure it's pretty close.
(06:16):
So nevertheless, just thinkingahead, planning ahead, and
making sure that the rightperson's in place.
That's all I'm saying.
And the power of attorney,getting back to that, I would
say it's a good idea to get itsooner rather than later,
especially, again, if it's foryour elderly parent or parents,
(06:38):
because you really want to getit over to their bank or
whatever financial institutionsthat they do business with.
I know that they will scrutinizeit and they may reject it.
I know that the power ofattorney I submitted for my mom
was rejected by one place threedifferent times for a few
different reasons and kind oftook a while for us to get into
(07:00):
place.
And then it just was an ordeal.
And then you got to drag theperson in and out of the bank or
what have you.
Now, even a lot of institutions,I know that they have their own
powers of attorney.
They don't accept attorneys.
outside powers of attorney, orif they do, it's kind of a lot
of hoops to jump through.
Some places, they will reject apower of attorney if it's not,
(07:23):
you know, drawn up within threeyears three years of use so
there's all sorts of weird stuffthat happens and all I'm saying
is that may be stuff that you'reunfamiliar with and you could be
just caught at the wrong placewrong time and even though you
have that thing and it's in yourhand and you're sure that it's
(07:44):
valid etc it may get all hung upand then that again doesn't help
you at all so you only need apower of attorney during
someone's life while they'realive once they're dead then
that That's the end of thatpower of attorney because it
doesn't need to be used anymore.
At that point of someone'sdeath, then the executor or the
(08:08):
administrator of their estate,then that person will take over
and they will have letters oftestamentary, usually from the
probate court, and that allowsthem to handle all the financial
affairs of the deceased.
So the power of attorney...
only good during life and againwithin usually very specific
(08:32):
circumstances or very broadsituations again if it's sort of
your overall estate planningjourney but it's a good reminder
that if you have someone thatyou work with a good attorney a
good estate planning attorneyit's something that you might
want to revisit i don't know ifyou have to revisit it every
single year but Given somecircumstances, it may be a good
(08:56):
idea to review it on at least,let's say, every three years.
Only because, again, I know thatthat circumstance happens out
there.
So it's something to be awareof.
And if the institutions thatyour family uses, ask them, do
you have your own powers ofattorney that you can send me,
mail me, I can download, whathave you.
(09:17):
And then, again, you just followwhatever the signatures and if
they require a notary orwhatever.
is and you do all that and thenyou send it back and hopefully
that just stays on file so justa good FYI that just was on top
of my mind especially after Iwas talking about this and you
(09:37):
know it's just good for you goodfor them and good all the way
around so I'm going to leave itthere hope you're having a great
day and we will talk at youlater
The best things in life are free But you can give
(00:28):
them to Hey, hello, hello,
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
hello.
Welcome to the Pink BunnyPodcast.
I'm Jerry.
I'm your host and...
This is where we talk all thingsrelated to money from a gay
perspective.
And you know what I've beenthinking is, you know, as your
parents get older, what reallyhappens is there comes a point
that they...
are unable to handle theirfinancial affairs and make
(01:18):
decisions for themselves.
And when that happens, what youreally need to have in place is
a document like a power ofattorney that's going to allow
you to handle their financialaffairs for them.
So this is a document that youcan draw up with the help of an
attorney, right?
You can do some of the onlineones as well.
(01:39):
Usually they either have toprobably be notarized or at
least witnessed, etc.
And they have to be drawn updrawn up when the person is
capable of making that decisionto appoint you as their power of
attorney and be able to sign it.
Now, if you wait too long andthey're at the point that they
don't recognize you or they'reincapacitated, their dementia
(02:01):
has kicked in, they're notmaking those decisions or they
don't know who you are, etcetera, then obviously they're
not going to be able to sign itbecause that's not going to be
valid and it can be easilycontested.
So not something you want toreally wait on.
Now, when should you do it?
Hard to say, right?
I mean, you could do it foryourself right now.
(02:21):
You could wait.
It really depends.
A lot of people will drag theirfeet for whatever reasons on
doing a lot of the estateplanning documents, et cetera,
the wills, power of attorney,living will, those kind of
things.
But it's really a good ideabecause there's all sorts of
situations that could require apower of attorney.
Now, there's different kinds.
There can be a limited power ofattorney that you often see
(02:44):
sometimes for just very specificthings like like signing a
document or be able to handle aparticular transaction, etc.
Those are fairly common, andthey just sort of have like a
one-time use, so to speak.
And...
They're easy to execute becauseyou're only saying to this
person, hey, you can handle thissituation for me.
(03:06):
It's not like a general power ofattorney or a durable power of
attorney that gives them broadpowers to handle almost
everything on your behalfbecause you've then ceded that
authority over to this person.
Hopefully, it's someone that youtrust, rely on, and makes good
decisions.
Because they're going to bemaking those decisions for you.
(03:26):
There's also health care powersof attorneys so that if that
person is incapacitated, maybe,God forbid, there's an auto
accident or something and thatperson's on life support and you
need to make some health caredecisions for them.
That, again, is a tragicsituation, but it happens, and
that can happen, of course, atany age.
(03:48):
So good reasons to have powersof attorney.
There can be springing powers ofattorney, and that just says if
this event occurs, then thispower of attorney will go into
effect.
So it really just depends on howcomfortable you are, again,
giving that control to someoneand given the circumstances.
(04:11):
If you're just doing your estateplanning documents, you may just
appoint your spouse as yourpower of attorney.
It could be, though, that you'reon your own and you need to
appoint a friend.
It could be some relative, etcetera.
But it really just depends,right?
Yeah.
(04:31):
you've got to think aheadbecause even in that
circumstance, if let's say thatperson is unavailable or they
are unreachable for some reasonor incapacitated themselves or
they're dead, then that power ofattorney really didn't do
anybody any good.
(04:51):
So you've got to think ahead andmaybe get a couple people if,
again, the situation warrantsit.
So The things that I wasthinking about is, again, going
back to your folks, if you havethat kind of situation
happening, because a lot ofpeople, again, experience a lot
of depression.
you know, sad effects ofdementia as they get older.
(05:12):
I know I was speaking with afriend of mine this last
weekend, and she works in amemory care unit, and she was
telling me that, you know, sheexperiences a lot of, you know,
attachment to a lot of theresidents that unfortunately is
short-lived because, you know,the people pass away.
(05:35):
And it's very difficult because,of course, you know, your
attachment and you expect you'reattached and you expect them to
always be there.
And then something happens andthey're gone.
And she was just saying, youknow, that a lot of men
typically are going to pass awayat the age of 75.
And a lot of women typicallypass away at the age of 83.
(05:56):
And statistically, that's right.
I mean, usually I know that Ithink that we always used to say
that women, the wife willtypically outlive the husband by
at least 15 years after he dies.
Whether that's 100% true, Idon't know, but it's pretty
common.
I'm sure it's pretty close.
(06:16):
So nevertheless, just thinkingahead, planning ahead, and
making sure that the rightperson's in place.
That's all I'm saying.
And the power of attorney,getting back to that, I would
say it's a good idea to get itsooner rather than later,
especially, again, if it's foryour elderly parent or parents,
(06:38):
because you really want to getit over to their bank or
whatever financial institutionsthat they do business with.
I know that they will scrutinizeit and they may reject it.
I know that the power ofattorney I submitted for my mom
was rejected by one place threedifferent times for a few
different reasons and kind oftook a while for us to get into
(07:00):
place.
And then it just was an ordeal.
And then you got to drag theperson in and out of the bank or
what have you.
Now, even a lot of institutions,I know that they have their own
powers of attorney.
They don't accept attorneys.
outside powers of attorney, orif they do, it's kind of a lot
of hoops to jump through.
Some places, they will reject apower of attorney if it's not,
(07:23):
you know, drawn up within threeyears three years of use so
there's all sorts of weird stuffthat happens and all I'm saying
is that may be stuff that you'reunfamiliar with and you could be
just caught at the wrong placewrong time and even though you
have that thing and it's in yourhand and you're sure that it's
(07:44):
valid etc it may get all hung upand then that again doesn't help
you at all so you only need apower of attorney during
someone's life while they'realive once they're dead then
that That's the end of thatpower of attorney because it
doesn't need to be used anymore.
At that point of someone'sdeath, then the executor or the
(08:08):
administrator of their estate,then that person will take over
and they will have letters oftestamentary, usually from the
probate court, and that allowsthem to handle all the financial
affairs of the deceased.
So the power of attorney...
only good during life and againwithin usually very specific
(08:32):
circumstances or very broadsituations again if it's sort of
your overall estate planningjourney but it's a good reminder
that if you have someone thatyou work with a good attorney a
good estate planning attorneyit's something that you might
want to revisit i don't know ifyou have to revisit it every
single year but Given somecircumstances, it may be a good
(08:56):
idea to review it on at least,let's say, every three years.
Only because, again, I know thatthat circumstance happens out
there.
So it's something to be awareof.
And if the institutions thatyour family uses, ask them, do
you have your own powers ofattorney that you can send me,
mail me, I can download, whathave you.
(09:17):
And then, again, you just followwhatever the signatures and if
they require a notary orwhatever.
is and you do all that and thenyou send it back and hopefully
that just stays on file so justa good FYI that just was on top
of my mind especially after Iwas talking about this and you
(09:37):
know it's just good for you goodfor them and good all the way
around so I'm going to leave itthere hope you're having a great
day and we will talk at youlater
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