I volunteered to be an elderly woman’s Power of Attorney so that I could help her in writing out her checks to pay her bills. I am not compensated for helping her write checks. But, she seems to feel that because i am her Power of Attorney I must take care of all of her problems and be responsible when things go wrong.
Tags: Attorney, Held, Power, Responsible, Uncompensated, Volunteer
A power of attorney is a convenience for the other person to allow you to take care of things for them. If it is general, you can do anything with her assests. If it is specific, you can only do what is allowed on the document.
You do not have to exercise it. But if you do exercise it you should do so responsibly. She has chosen to allow you the power to use your discretion to take care of her finances. If she does not like it she can find someone else, you are doing your best.
You should tell her that you need to start charging her for your services. You will bill her $50 per hour to act as her fiduciary, but that is negotiable. And you will only charge her for time you actually spend on her affairs, including the time she take to discuss things with you.
The link below is to a company that does this. Maybe they can help you understand this stuff.
Well I believe that is usually what Power of Attorney means… it signifies that if the person is incapable of making decisions the Power Of Attorney is to do all things that he or she is not considered capable of doing
That’s right! As power of attorney, you ARE responsible.