Morrow, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Please accept my condolences on your loss. Unfortunately, if your mother resided in New York, then you will need to have a New York attorney assist you. You may want to try reposting this using your mother's location, rather than Georgia, to help you draw attention from attorneys in New York.

A power of attorney dies with the maker, as such the nursing home may not be able to speak with the attorney-in-fact either. The options are try to order a death certificate, it will include the cause of death. As a family member the County may be willing to provide you with one. The cost is about $20.00; or you may need to go into probate court to get an order that enables you to access that information. The last alternative is the most costly.

A power of attorney ceases to have any effect immediately upon the death of the principal (the person who created it is the principal). In the case of your power of attorney, that means that no, your mother will not have any power to use the power of attorney after your death. If you want to ensure that your mother or someone else will have the ability to act after your death with the least possible amount of difficulty, then you need to have some additional estate planning in place. A Will is the bare minimum. A Will takes effect only AT your death, and the Will can authorize someone to act as the Executor of your estate. The appointed Executor would need to offer the Will for probate and get appointed in order to be able to act. If you want someone to be able to act more quickly, then you may want to use a trust--likely a revocable trust. You could be the Trustee of the revocable trust, perhaps with your mother as a Co-Trustee or successor Trustee if you want her to be able to act with regard to the trust even while you are still living and competent. If you die or become incapacitated, the successor Trustee or remaining Co-Trustee could then continue to act with regard to the trust without the need for your Will to be admitted to probate first. Please don't attempt estate planning yourself; consult an experienced estate planning attorney to find out more about what options you have and what plan may best suit your needs and goals.