If I have POA for my dad and pay hiss bills and I’m on his bank accounts, should he have to go into a home can they come after my own bank accounts?
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If I have POA for my dad and pay hiss bills and I’m on his bank accounts, should he have to go into a home can they come after my own bank accounts?
Asked on June 6, 2017 under Estate Planning, Connecticut
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
No, being the attorney-in-fact or agent (those are the terms for someone given power by a POA) for someone does not make you personally liable for the principal's (the person creating the POA; your father) debts. Being a signer on his accounts or otherwise having authority over them does not make you liable, either. Be careful to not take any of his money for your own purposes--only use it in provable or documentable ways for him; if you take his assets for yourself or your own benefit, they may be able to go after those transfers and undo them, on the grounds they were fraudulent as to actual or potential creditors. Once they do that, they may look generally into your finances and assets, effectively forcing you to prove that the rest of your money, etc. is yours, not his. Rather than getting into that, don't take any of his money or property in the first place.
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