Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

I don't know because I have not seen the document. I don't understand why the bank will not honor a valid power of attorney. My suggestion would be to either close the account and find a more amenable bank or else talk to the branch manager and have the branch manager get ahold of the legal counsel for the bank (all banks have a legal department) to find out exactly what the problem is.

What exactly does the bank have to approve? When an agent under a power of attorney assumes control, nothing changes. The only difference is that the agent under the power of attorney signs checks on behalf of the principal (assuming the power of attorney authorizes the agent to handle banking transactions) as follows:

Jane Doe, as power of attorney for Mary Smith.

The problem here is that the power of attorney names you and your husband as co-agents. This is not really a good idea but if that is how the power of attorney reads then is there the requirement that both of you have to sign together? Or can either one of you act alone? To answer that, you would need to review the other language in the power of attorney.

The other problem may be in what the power of attorney authorizes you to do as agent. If the power was properly drafted by a lawyer, then it should allow you to handle all kinds of bank transactions. If this was a do-it-yourself type of form and not specific then the power of attorney may be useless. Filing at the courthouse does not make a power of attorney more valid or give powers that were never authorized.

And in North Carolina, a power of attorney MUST be filed at the register of deeds. It is then filed at the courthouse and accountings have to be filed unless the power of attorney excuses them and contains specific language. Was the power of attorney properly filed?