Answer:
Transferring the principal's funds to ownership by the attorney-in-fact is pretty much a textbook example of a breach of fiduciary duty. It may also qualify as a crime.
The POA may give the daughter the power to close the accounts, however, if they are closed with a bank check it should be payable to the principal. If it's that check that she wants to deposit then she would endorse it with her mother's name signed by her and indicating her fiduciary status. Then she would sign it again in her own name to indicate she had taken control of the funds.
You may not be able to flatly prohibit her actions, but you can force her to leave an impeccable paper trail and then consider your responsibilities for reporting her actions in the form of a report to the state for financial abuse of the elderly and/or a SAR.
First published on BankersOnline.com 8/8/11
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