Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

First of all, do NOT use forms! The cost of estate planning, and a POA is but one piece of proper estate planning, is often very small. The cost of a mistake can be enormous.

In my opinion, giving a POA to multiple people at once is usually a very bad idea. It may render the document unusable, and creates problems. People are often reluctant to deal with someone through a POA, and if there is a question as to which person has present authority, or if there are multiple people, that can create unsolvable headaches.

Note that other things may also be prudent besides a POA - such as a will, in some cases trusts, changes in title, changes in bank accounts, proper designations of beneficiaries on retirement plans and insurance, living wills, health care directives, etc. Paying a lawyer a small fee to cover all this is far smarter than practicing law without a license and using a possibly defective internet form.

I have to second Attorney Ashman's sound advice here. Giving POA to multiple people = recipe for disaster. There should be one captain of the ship to make decisions. If the primary agent cannot do it, then the POA can name successor(s) each to act singly.

If your mother cannot afford counsel then she can use the GA statutory form found at this link: http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp Its better than nothing

I also agree with Attorney Ashman that if your mother needs a financial power, then she should consider other estate planning documents - will/trust and healthcare directive. Your mother must be mentally competent to execute all of these documents. If she is not mentally competent, then she cannot execute any of the documents and a conservator has to be appointed to handle her finances and a guardian for her healthcare needs.

While its nice that you want to help your mother, unless you are a lawyer, you cannot be preparing a power of attorney for her. That's tantamount to practicing law without a license. Its not up to you to do what you want as far as naming agents under the power of attorney. Its up to your mother. She is the one to decide who will be her primary and successor agents

Please - if you wish to really help, then assist your mother in getting a consult with an elder care or estate planning attorney. The attorney can review your mother's situation - her needs, assets, income and desires, and devise a plan that accomplishes her wishes.