I want to resign and designate POA to my brother. Do we HAVE to get a lawyer?

The legal answer is "it depends on the terms contained in the POA itself".

If your brother is named as the successor POA, then your resignation is sufficient to allow your brother to assume his duties and obligations under the POA.

If the POA allowed you to name a successor yourself, then you can resign in favor of whomever you designate as the new POA.

If the POA is silent on either issue (or if your mother chooses), then a new POA is in order. If she's not competent to execute a new POA, then other means would be in order, including a guardianship over both her person and her estate.

The trust itself would dictate who is to be a successor trustee, if you wish to give up that position too.

Depending on the situation, an attorney may not be needed. But given the situation, you may want to return to the original estate attorney and go through the situation and make needed changes, and it sounds like you are on that fine line between capacity and competency as to your mother's ability to execute documents, etc.

I'm sorry you are in this position, and perhaps an attorney is just a good idea considering the problems.

Best wishes as you try to resolve this.

yes, i did resign. i thot i was making it easier for him but never did i imagine he would lord it over me the way he has!

Did you resign your POA?

Are you sole proxy under the POA? If so, then your mother would need to execute a new one replacing you with your brother.

However, if you hold joint authority, either with or without concurrence on actions by both of you, you can resign by letter presented to your mother, sent certified to your brother, and then he can take over.

Are you also the trustee under her trust? If so, are you considering that it would also be more appropriate for your brother to handle this function? If so, that would require a trust amendment or restatement, which needs to be handled by an attorney.

Hiyala, only your Mother can reassign a Power of Attorney, but only if she can still understand what that legal document says. The POA would need to be drawn up by an attorney. One can get blank documents on-line, but one misplaced word or missing word can cause major issues later down the road.

I would go back to the attorney who drew up the Trust, or find an Elder Law attorney and ask him/her what is the next step if your Mother cannot understand the legal paperwork.