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Parents cared for grandma. Mom had bad accident and grandma went into nursing home. Mom & grandma have a check acct together. The bank won’t accept POA of my dad or my Uncle. They won’t give them access to the acct. We must self pay first month for grandma and need to get money out to pay the home and spend down on her so Medicaid will accept her. Mom has brain injury & grandma can’t write (she’s 100) and has dementia. How can we access their acct?My Uncle has POA of grandma (mom was main) and I’m second POA. Dad has POA over mom. Neither of them can access their joint checking acct as the bank said no. This means we lose $11,000.00 and I’m not willing to do that. Also grandma gets her SS and Pension auto deposited into that acct. Please help???

You need an attorney to file for conservatorship
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Reply to MACinCT
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You have posted this under Elder Law.
Your're correct; you now need an attorney.
The bank should have given the POAs a REASON they're not accepting the POA. I can't imagine what that might be, nor can any of us.
It could have to do with the joint account nature of it; it could have to do with incorrectly joining assets.
It could have to do with how this POA is written (whether by attorney or pulled off a computer).
It could have to do with the fact the POA are not correctly put into force by two letters from MDs attesting to the fact that both mom and grandma cannot manage their finances due to being legally incompetent under the law.

Moreover you now have TWO POAs for TWO individuals trying to manage ONE account. How in the world would a BANK guess what money belongs to which person?

Just saying. This is a total mess, and it's what happens when people make joint accounts of this type thinking that mom has access to grandma's funds to manage her care. Yeah. Until something goes wrong. And something ALWAYS goes wrong. I know it's no comfort to you that this serves as a dire warning to others but I have to say I see on AC all the time the bad recommendation that people get themselves put on their parents account. This is exhibit A as to what can happen. Sadder still is that an attorney will cost 1,000s of dollars to access not a whole lot of money; that money were better off left alone but for the fact the SS checks are pouring into these accounts as well.

It may legally be a better thing for Dad to become representative payee for Mom and Uncle for Grandma, and then the SS be placed in a dedicated account for each of these women, and just let that awful other account sit until collected by heirs eventually. But that would be up to an attorney.

I wish you luck, but I suspect this will be hard to iron out, and you most definitely need an attorney to do it. I am so sorry.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Are the POAs invoked? If Mom was main POA was Uncle co-POA or secondary if Mom could not fullfill her duties? If Uncle is secondary, then Mom has to revoke her POA and Uncle invokes his. If Mom has been declared incompetent, this has to be brought to a lawyer to invoke secondary POA.

For Dad. Is Mom competent to make decisions? If so Dads POA is not invoked. If Mom is not capable of making decisions, your Dad needs a doctor to declare that Mom is not competent to make informed decisions. Then Dad needs a lawyer to invoke POA.

Once the POAs are invoked and Bank gets information they need, the bank should allow access to the funds.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Is this Bank of America? They go out of their way to be as difficult as possible when it comes to POAs.
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Reply to lkdrymom
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I agree with ShirleyDot: there has to be a legitimate (and legal) reason why the bank isn't accepting the PoA.

For the SSA and deposits, you or your Dad may need to apply as a Representative Payee (this doesn't require one to be a PoA but it is still a process).

I'm hoping that when your Dad and/or Uncle moved your Mom & Grandma into the facility they knew how to correctly sign the paperwork so that they are not legally personally responsible for those fees. I would talk to an elder law attorney so that they know what they are doing because there are consequences if they don't. A court doesn't accept ignorance as a defense ("I didn't know...").
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Reply to Geaton777
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You need to find out why the POA paperwork was not sufficient. Call the bank and find out. Maybe this is fixable. And yes, contact an Eldercare or estate lawyer asap. But first gather copies of everything - both POAs. Did your mom use online banking? Sometimes there is a work around but the bank may have already locked down the account.
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Reply to ShirleyDot
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Call your state Attorney General's office and ask to speak with a staff member who handles issues with banks.

Also make an appointment with an Elder Care attorney.
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Reply to MG8522
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