Powers of Attorney and Fiduciary Duties

Sorry, AlvaDeer, I guess my eyesight is shot. As you know, a POA gives the agent the power to act on the principal's behalf. They stand in the principal's shoes. Interestingly, there are different types of POAs drawn up according to what the principal wants to accomplish. For example, the terms of a POA might say that the agent can only act in certain areas or for a certain amount of time. Some principals give carte blanche to their agent to act without consulting them. Other principals retain all decision making power for as long as they are competent. People clamoring to have power of attorney are like those who make a fuss about being named executor of a will. I promise you, you don't want it.

It really is remarkable that people will name an executor in their will or an agent for their POAs without asking them about it first. Not to mention successor executors or agents. I agree. In truth, the court will allow the unwilling executor or agent to bow out, but you still have to interact with the court a little bit.

I was lucky. My Mom had little money but she did have a house. That was my Albatross. It was 123 yrs old and in need of lots of repair. It never sold until 2 yrs after her death. This was not my responsibility, but I paid out of pocket to keep things turned on so it could be viewed. Taxes were not paid. But with the little Mom had, I still kept records. She had some CDs I cashed in for her care. Thank god she didn't have money everywhere or own more than one property. I remember one OP where her parent owned apartments they had to take care of.

I think that since DPOA is used so much now that we need to have some rules in writing. First, you can't assign someone without them signing off. I signed nothing when Mom assigned me. That the person assigned gets an explanation from the lawyer what POA entails. It does not give you the right to steal the principles money.

How did you miss me! It's my favorite subject!
You are correct. A POA is a Fiduciary held to the HIGHEST standards under the law. I say this on Forum all the time. I also find those seeking POA have almost ZERO knowledge of all it entails and I send them to Elder Law and Trust and Estate Attorneys for Trusts, as well. People think they get POA "over" someone. On the contrary, they can only be appointed by a competent adult and it is that adult who holds all power until/unless they become incompetent to act in their own best interests. Moreover there are onerous burdens of record keeping. It is also almost impossibly difficult to act for an adult that is become incompetent and uncooperative.
People take this duty lightly and understand it little. It is a steep learning curve. I hope all investigate thoroughly what it means to serve as POA before accepting that duty.
The laws of states vary, but they vary little. I wish people would visit an attorney before agreeing to serve as POA.

"By law, an agent has a fiduciary obligation to make financial decisions that are in the best interests of the principal. 'It’s important that people understand that this fiduciary obligation is not stated in the power of attorney, and it doesn’t need to be, because it is implied by law,' Furman said."

Source: https://www.aplaceformom.com/caregiver-resources/articles/misconceptions-about-a-power-of-attorney