I am Power of Attorney for my widowed mother. At this time of year property taxes of a few thousand dollars are due. My mom has Alzheimer's and stays in the house mostly. Rather than make her leave the house can I go to a bank myself and put the proceeds into checking? Are there different types of Power of Attorneys or should mine allow me to sell these bonds? If I can do it myself should I bring the Power of Attorney statement with me?
Not enough information to give you a good answer. A General Power of Attorney may, in your jurisdiction, give you the authority to sell your mother's bonds. Lacking that kind of power of attorney, you need to have a specific power of attorney that gives you the authority to sell her bonds. Generally, a power of attorney is granted for specific purposes, i.e., to sell a car, to make medical decisions, etc. If you're not sure, don't take a chance on exceeding your authority. With property taxes, you generally have some time to pay them, so if you don't get her money from her bonds into her checking today, you can get this done when she does leave the house. The reason she should make her own decisions is that you could be liable for doing something you don't have the authority to do. Pretty soon, we'll see a Y!A question saying, Our sibling exceeded the power of attorney and cashed my mom's bonds to pay taxes. Can we sue? In this case, it would be a lot better if your mom cashes her own bonds and pays her own property taxes. Best of luck!!
Yes there are different types and I have no guesses about what powers your mother has given you. Whatever you try to do with her property will require showing the document.
If you have a durable power of Atty to handle all financial matters, you can do it. Take the POA with you and ID. IF it isn't what you need, trust me, the bank will not let it happen.
