Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: poa on joint property

I don't know what you mean. If both JTs are still living and your daughter has POA for either, she could use the POA to destroy the JT, since a JT can do so simply by conveying his or her interest to himself or herself as "a tenant in common." If that is what you mean, I hope it helps. Otherwise, I don't know what you are asking.

I recommend you get my a free download of my Special Report, The 7 Most Common Mistakes Made by the Middle Class in Planning For the Inevitability of Death and the Likelihood of Disability, and How to Avoid Them." You can get it at my site, www.IWant2CreateMyLegacy.com. You should probably also get my book, Create Your Legacy & Save the American Middle Class. It contains the information that I developed for lay audiences in hundreds of seminars to thousands of people. It will answer nearly all of your questions about how to protect a family from the financial catastrophe that can often accompany the inevitabilty of death and the likelihood of disability. And answer a lot of important questions you never thought to ask. Both are terribly important. A lot of people don't realize that conservatorship is the fastest growing lawsuit in America and the average conservatorship lasts 3 years today. That is because medicine has gotten better and better at keeping us "alive" ofen under the worst circumstances.

The book contains a copy of the "LEGACY LIVING TRUST PACKAGE". It is, as far as I know, the only complete living trust planning package written in what I call "people ease" rather than legalese. Anyone reading at a 10th grade level should be able complete the package themselves with the information in the book. It is designed to be valid in all 50 states and even contains forms for making amendments when the desire to do so appears.

The book is $29.95, the best investment you'll ever make. About the cost of a six minute consultation with me personally. One can download the trust package for $79.95. For more info or to buy the book, go to www.IWant2CreateMyLegacy.com.

You may want to log in on my blog on that website or on www.MWRoth.com, and create an RSS Feed on your E-mial system since I will be beginning shortly a 3 month regular post on the topic of asset protection for the middle class.

Re: poa on joint property

No. A Power of Attorney merely means that she is authorized to make decisions for you when you can not or will not do so. It gives her no more rights then you have already. Since there is no transfer of property interests, it has no effect on whether a joint tenancy exists and does not make her a tenant or bestow any ownership right on her.

I am uncertain what you mean by her obtaining POA through legal channels. Are you worried that when you and your wife become ill she will rush to court to get herself a POA? She would not be able to do that. If you have a substantial sum of money and do not want your children to get equal shares, it probably would be best to spend some money now to find out from an attorney expert in Wills, trusts, Estate Planning how you should deal with your economic present and future. Doing this now will take a great burden off the shoulders of whomever you want to handle the distribution, as if there is more than one heir there will be fighting. You want to do good tax planning also.

Re: poa on joint property

A Power of Attorney is not an interest in land. It should be thought of as creating a certain kind of principal-and-agent relationship, with the holder of the POA having legal authority to do certain things on behalf of the principal. A POA does not give the attorney in fact (the holder of the POA) an interest, but it may authorize the attorney in fact to act in the principal's stead so long as the acts are in accordance with the POA's terms and the attorney in fact does not abuse the power for his or her own gain.

Further, a power of attorney is extinguished by the death of the principal. The POA evaporates, just as does the interest of a deceased joint tenant.

I think you need to get a definition of "Power of Attorney" that's as comprehensive as the definition of "Joint Tenant" you gave us. The concepts are totally different; about all they have in common is that they are both legal terms and both share the characteristic of evaporating on someone's death. There may be other concidental similarities, but they are really quite unrelated.