Power of Attorney 101: Abuses are common!
Depending on the language of the power of attorney, your agent may be able to change the ownership of your bank accounts or change your beneficiary designations. This is a common scenario in second marriages. The transfer often occurs just before the spouse passes away, typically when the husband is dying in the hospital. For example, if the husband’s will leaves some of his large bank accounts to his children from his first marriage, the second wife, acting under a power of attorney, can add herself as a joint owner of the account. When the husband dies, the second spouse is the surviving joint owner and liquidates the account. There is no need to probate the will for the bank account and the children never receive their share of their father’s money. It happens a lot. Siblings use it a lot too, to direct mom’s assets away from their brother or sister.
