I tried to have a check made out to my husband cashed today. He is depolyed and I have power of attorney. The bank said they are refusing my power of attorney and he would need to be present to cash the check. I advised them he is deployed and they still denied it. I need to cash this since we have no money at the present and it seems to me that power of attorney is the same as having him there. Any ideas on what to do or who to call. Im waiting for a JAG to call me back per the FRG.
Each bank may have rules on what they accept. Is this the bank that he banks with? If so, he should have contacted them before he deployed to give them the POA and advise them to allow you to do things on his behalf. If not his bank, they don't know for sure that he signed it, so they really do not have to honor it, from what I understand, just like some states do not honor a POA for certain things (like vehicle registration in my former state, you HAD to have the Special power of attorney). Hopefully JAG can help you out a little more. Its frustrating when the military tells you that this should work for you, but then it doesn'tI understand as my husband was deployed last year. Good luck, let us know what JAG tells you!
It seems you did the right thing talking to FRG, and also another good thing that they referred you to JAG. one thing to check is make sure its not a limited power of attorney. i had the same problem once. I assume its not considering you are married. your next bet is to try a different bank, im pretty sure whoever you talked to at the bank is an idiot let me guess Bank of America?(notorious for being A**holes)
I would start off by calling JAG like some of the other people have suggested. They might be able to contact the bank for you and get your problem resolved. Also, have you tried to go to another branch of the bank? The one thing that a lot of people don't realize is that a POA is only as good as the people/organization willing to accept a POA. A POA states that you have the expressed permission to act on someones behalf; it doesn't require anyone to except it. What ever you do don't let anyone keep the original. If they need a copy of it for their records, that's ok, have them make a copy of it. Just don't let them keep the original. My wife took my POA to the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles to register our van after we PCS'd and I deployed. They said they had to have the original POA and then failed to give it back to her. When my wife went back later that day, after realizing that she didn't get the POA back they couldn't find it and told her that they wouldn't have been able to give it back if they did find it. I was totally P*ssed. Luckily I always make sure that my wife at least 2 POA just in case on gets lost or damaged. I wish you the best of luck and that your husband comes home safely.
You need to have a Special POA saying you can cash checks in his name, went through this when I was in BCT with my husband cashing my checks, and I had the same issues when he was Deployed, it must be a Special POA You should also ask for there policy in writing when it comes to your husband being deployed and you have a POA. I understand how you feel been there done that, remain calm, worse case sign it for your husband and deposit into your account. Just like income tax time you must have a special POA to file taxes and it must read to file return and cash any refunds owed to you. Good Luck, continue to call Jag , what ever you learn share that with your FRG leader who can pass it on at the next meeting. Good Luck hope it works out! Armywife Soldier
The POA isn't exactly the same as him being there. And the bank, unfortunately for you right now, has the right not to accept a POA. If JAG issued the POA they may be able to contact the bank manager for you and let him know how they went about verifying the service member's identification for the POA and that may set the bank's concerns to rest. You also might offering to deposit the money in the bank until the check clears. It would mean waiting longer for the cash but it could be that the bank just doesn't want to cash a check that it feels might have a chance of being bad and then having to fight with your DH to get the money back. If they'll let you deposit the check with a hold on the money you'd have to wait for the cash but it would be on it's way which is better than the check sitting on your desk.
