Does a Power of Attorney End at Death?

Updated 5/22/2024

Question:

I was taking care of a now-deceased man via a durable power of attorney (POA). It has this clause: "This power of attorney is not affected by the subsequent disability of the principal." Most of my advisers say that it's still effective. I want to use it to sell his mobile home. The bank says no. What do you say?

Answer:

The bank is correct. The POA is no longer valid. All durable POAs end when the principal—the person who made the POA—dies. In fact, if you attempt to sell the mobile home, you could find yourself in legal trouble for abuse of POA.

The clause you mention refers to principals who are disabled, but still alive. In fact, it's that very clause that makes a POA durable—that is, effective even after the principal becomes incapacitated.

The executor of the deceased person's will—or the estate administrator, if he died without a will—must handle the sale of his mobile home through a court process called "probate." In some cases (for instance, when the deceased person had few assets), state law may allow an estate to skip probate or go through streamlined probate. But, even in these cases, your authority under the POA expires when the principal dies.

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