Maryland Power of Attorney
Upon review of the new financial power of attorney statutory language for both the short and long form, there are many good aspects with the new provisions. There are enforcement provisions in this new law. Before, a bank could refuse to honor your power of attorney and there would be virtually no way to force the bank to honor your power of attorney other than jump through their unique requirements. The agent must keep a record of all receipts, disbursements and transactions. There are other requirements as well. The execution requirements will change. While there is bound to be much confusion when this is enacted on October 1, 2010, overall, this was a good move by the Maryland General Assembly and this a positive development for our seniors. There are more safeguards into its use. There more defined routes to attack misuse. There is language that can be used to make this enforceable.
If you would like to know the background of why the new power of attorney laws are called “Loretta’s Law” please follow this link:
I have POA for my father who is in the hospital now and is going into a nursing home. Bank of America will not honor this POA. I’ve been able to sell his car and other property, cancel his insurance etc., the POA was good enough for that. I need to pay his present bills and the fees for the nursing home. What laws in the state of Maryland govern this issue?
Thank you for your help
At present, a financial power of attorney holder cannot force a bank to honor a power of attorney. There are a variety of reasons why a bank may not honor a power of attorney (i.e. it is too old, does not contain a notary seal, does not specifically address the account at issue, etc.). All of these are not valid reasons to dishonor a financial power of attorney. My guess is that your father may be eligible for Medicare (if he has more than 3 nights in the hospital) and you may have some breathing room from immediate payment obligations to the nursing home. Give our office a call. The worst case scenario is seeking court authorization to access this account. However, before taking that drastic step, I would like the opportunity to review the power of attorney and the situation in its entirety and have our office give the Bank of America legal counsel a call.