my mom passed away and I do not have power of attorney what rights do I have?

Question

I am asking this question for a friend of mine...his mom passed away recently and his mom didnt have a will... He has been left to handle all of her financial affairs and is of course running into 3rd party issues. He needs to notify social security...her creditors...and to gain access to her finances to pay off her debts. He is not quite sure where to start.

Answer 1

Powers of attorney are terminated anyways whenever a person dies. Therefore, even if you did have were the agent in the power of attorney relationship, it wouldn't matter now.

Since your mother has passed, you must now look to the will. If she has a will, it probably has named an executor/executrix of the estate. If not, then the court appoints letters of administration to an individual to administer the estate.

Basically, you need to determine if she had a will, and if so, who the executor is to determine what duties you now have in the coming months.

**In response to your comments, he really needs to get an attorney because the court requires accounts to be filed with an estate and inheritance tax to be paid (of at least filed, even if none is owed)

If he really demands to do it himself, in order to request financial information to liquidate, you need a short certificate and death certificate. You need to ascertain date of death balances, however, for inheritance tax purposes.

Really, get an attorney. He/she will charge a fee which the estate will pay before funds are distributed. It is probably worth if, especially if you are running into these problems already which are fundamental.

Answer 2

Even if you had a power of attorney, it would likely have expired when your mom died. If she had a will, you likely get whatever she left you. If she didn't have a will, your state has a law that determines who will receive her estate (you don't mention if she had a husband other than your dad, or if your dad is still alive, etc). You can look for your state's inheritance law by finding the statutes or code and looking under something like "decedent" and "intestate"(without a will). Just poke around and you will likely find a list of who gets priority as a beneficiary.

Answer 3

A power of attorney dies with the giver so in this case, it's worthless.

If your mother was married, had a will or didn't have a will, her estate needs to be probated. Even if she didn't have much, someone needs to contact the Probate court and file Probate and a request to appoint you or another as executor.

So, would you like to tell us why you're asking?

Answer 4

the person with power of attorney has all the power, usually whoever is set up to do the will and all. could be another family member, a friend she trusted or a lawyer.

Answer 5

Request the court to appoint an administrator of the estate of your mother for its preservation and distribution.