Yes, he does. When the deceased died, his or her Enduring/Continuing Power of Attorney came to an end. The attorney acting under the Power of Attorney was then under a legal duty to account to the executor for his or her care and management of the deceased's financial affairs. An astonishingly high number of people acting under Powers of Attorney seem to think that they are entitled to do whatever they want with someone else's money, including taking it for themselves, and the accounting to the executor is often where they get caught out.
If I were an executor in this position, I would consider the fact that one day soon I would have to divide the estate among the beneficiaries and explain to them why the estate is smaller than everyone thought. Are they going to believe me when I say the loss was not my fault but that of the attorney, when I made absolutely no attempt to make the attorney explain the loss? I doubt it.
An executor is in a legal position to demand an accounting, and may request additional back-up evidence such as bank statements, receipts, cancelled cheques etc. If the attorney refuses to co-operate, the executor may end up asking the court for help. Fraud is fraud. The fact that a person was appointed attorney under a Power of Attorney makes a theft worse, in my view, because it involved taking advantage of someone who trusted him.
I'm a co-executor with my cousin who looked after my father in Ontario as he was dieing, she was also appointed power of attorney for finances. She claims to not know what happened to his wallet at death. Two days before my father died, he withdrew $2000 from his bank, there were also other cash withdrawals that she does not know what happened to. My father was too weak to walk or drive without her. How do I get her to account for the money?
ReplyDeleteIs she willing to call the police and report a theft of the wallet? Because if your dad didn't take out the money and neither did she, obviously it's been stolen. Perhaps suggesting that the police be involved will help her "remember" what happened.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynne, Your advice is brilliant, and also something I should have been able to think of myself. I will politely give it a try. Anonymous Nov.17,2010 4:10 PM
ReplyDeleteJust a couple questions ... my father passed away when i was about 5 and he was about 21, he was not with my mon anymore and there was no will, apparently my grampa took care of everything i am wondering 1 of 2 things how do i go about making sure everything has bin done right and all money was split between my brother and i and none of it was kept by himself .. the other question is my dad had a deed for 40 acres of land in his name when he died.. my grampa told my mom that he was going to split it between my brother and i in the will or estate, my grampa then came back to my mom at a later date and told her that he lost my dads property in gambling , how do i proseed with this.... It not right and i find it very disrespectful to my father
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