Can I use my mothers credit card, with her permission, if I have Power of Attorney?

Question

My mother has early stages of Alzheimers and I take care of all her affairs. She wants me to use her credit card however I see fit, within her best interests. The credit card company is giving me a hard time about this even though I have sent them the POA form. Are there laws regarding this matter?

Answer 1

Speak with an Attorney about this. Sometime some company don't have to abide by the POA, or they choice not too.
Get an attorney involved, and I'm sure things will flows after that. I do hope you are sending the company the copy of your POA, not the original!

I think the company concern are who will be the person paying for all this credit card charges. Just to let you know, being given the condition of using her card, you are liable for all these charges. Even though, your mom's name is on the card. The company will be going after you for this. I do hope you are aware of this.

Answer 2

I am not a lawyer, but I believe that you are not entitled to charge to your mother's credit card simply because you have POA. You can, however, have her add you to her account, and then you could make the charges. All you have to do is call the credit card company and tell them that you would like them to send your mother the form for her to add you to her account. (They may want her to verify this, so have her sitting there and make sure the customer person understands that she's very old and infirm--don't say "Alzheimer's.") When you get the form, fill it out and have her sign it.

Assuming you have a general POA (and not, say, a medical POA), you do have access to her bank funds. I personally would recommend getting at least some of the money the heck out of her checking and savings accounts while your POA is viable; the minute she dies, your POA is no longer valid, and you will need the money to pay for expenses (your mother's expenses, not your own expenses). Probate can tie up bank funds for quite a long time.

Probably the best thing to do is to consult a lawyer or a paralegal in your state.

Answer 3

Yes, there are Laws concerning this.

Contact your State's Attorney General Office and speak with the Consumers affairs department.

The Problem is that credit card companies face many lost or stolen Credit cards. Hence, the High interest rates. Also, we are facing an Identity Theft Crisis in the USA.

Many Credit Card companies and based in the state of Delaware.
The Laws in Delaware favor many companies, including Banks and Credit Card companies.

See this URL for additional information.

http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/services/content/powerattorney.shtml

In the end, you may want to seek the advice of an attorney.

Good Luck......Billy

Answer 4

If your mother has Alzheimers Why does she have credit cards? It sounds kinda fishy. I mean if you need to care for her use a bank card. She doesn't really need her credit cards.

Answer 5

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RE :Can I use my mothers credit card, with her permission, if I have Power of Attorney?
My mother has early stages of Alzheimers and I take care of all her affairs. She wants me to use her credit card however I see fit, within her best interests. The credit card company is giving me a hard time about this even though I have sent them the POA form. Are there laws regarding this matter?
Follow 7 answers

Answer 6

Yes. You are acting in your mother's stead, so anything she could do, you can do. Yes, there are laws. Google it and there is tons of info.

Answer 7

YES, the Power of Attorney is a written form of that permission.

The laws are clear; if you have a Power of Attorney then you can handle the person's interests, yourself, with you acting for them. In the case of financial situations a Power of Attorney is the ideal way to exercise that power. If your mother signs the Power of Attorney it gives you permission to make finical decisions and to handle all her finances then you can use her credit card.

According to this website: http://www.legaldocs.com/docs/sp-poa-1.mv
Certain acts cannot be delegated using a Power of Attorney. For example, a Special Power of Attorney does not have the authority to:

-1. Delegate rights or duties which are personal in nature. For example, a judge could not delegate his or her judicial function.
- 2. Make or revoke wills or living wills.
- 3. Enter into marriage contracts or initiate divorce.

So there is no clause that forbids you from using her credit cards unless she states so in the power of attorney itself.

Power of Attorneys are wide open, you can use her credit card to do anything, even to buy things for yourself. This is why the credit card company is having problems. Since they offer the credit card as a service they can remove that service or cancel it at anytime, but until they do that you can use the credit card. The credit card company is worried because use of an elderly persons credit card is a common form of elderly abuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_abuse).

Here is an article on a case of elder abuse: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-montalk29oct29,1,3384912.column?coll=la-headlines-business

Normally Power of Attorneys are used to handle a person's finances, pay her bills, juggle her bank accounts, cash checks for her and so on. Using a power of attorney for a credit card is unusual. It might be best to work on a cash/check basis and pay off the credit card.

According to: http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/ObjectID/49C06355-942F-4DA8-8D067AE136C32D80/catID/4D6845C7-364F-4C75-BCD09E399AC12F0F/309/292/166/QNA/
"As an agent (called an attorney-in-fact in some states), you are duty bound to avoid any sort of personal benefit from financial transactions you conduct on behalf of your mother-in-law -- and to keep your own finances separate from hers.

Some power of attorney documents explicitly waive these requirements -- most often when the agent is a spouse or life partner. But most do not." (Check out the more information link at the bottom of the article.)

Unless your power of attorney is limited in scope and it STATES what you can and cannot do then you can pretty do as much as you want, but the relationship created in a power of attorney makes a fiduciary relationship and it holds you to a higher standard of responsibility.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_Attorney
"Under the common law, a power of attorney" comes into play "if its grantor dies or becomes "incapacitated," meaning unable to grant such a power, because of physical injury or mental illness, for example unless the grantor (or principal) specifies that the power of attorney will continue to be effective even if the grantor becomes incapacitated (but any such power ends when the grantor dies)."

When you become the agent for someone through a power of attorney you become their fiduciary, which holds you to a higher standard of performance.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiduciary
"The fiduciary duty is a legal relationship between two or more parties (most commonly a "fiduciary" or "trustee" and a "principal" or "beneficiary") that in English common law is arguably the most important concept within the portion of the legal system known as equity. Since the Judicature Acts merged the courts of Equity (historically based in England's Court of Chancery) with the courts of common law, the concept of fiduciary duty also became usable in common law courts.

A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care imposed at either equity or law. A fiduciary is expected to be extremely loyal to the person they owe the duty (the "principal"): they must not put their personal interests before the duty, and must not profit from their position as a fiduciary, unless the principal consents. The fiduciary relationship is highlighted by good faith, loyalty and trust, and the word itself originally comes from the Latin fides, meaning faith, and fiduciary.

When a fiduciary duty is imposed, equity requires a stricter standard of behavior than the comparable tortuous duty of care at common law. It is said the fiduciary has a duty not to be in a situation where personal interests and fiduciary duty conflict, a duty not to be in a situation where their fiduciary duty conflicts with another fiduciary duty, and a duty not to profit from their fiduciary position without express knowledge and consent. A fiduciary cannot have a conflict of interest. It has been said that fiduciaries must conduct themselves "at a level higher than that trodden by the crowd.""

According to the Article 10 Documents You Shouldn't Live Without: http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06051603.htm
"Durable power of attorney
With this form, you authorize someone you trust to make financial and legal decisions for you if you become incapacitated. This can be critical -- even if you're just unconscious temporarily (say for a few weeks) because of a post-surgery complication. You may need someone to close on a home you're selling or deal with a credit card company. The paperwork involved is minimal, and the possible payoff for having this document in place is enormous."

Answer 8

yes