Legal Question in Elder Law in Ohio

Re: Poa

In Ohio, a POA and a Guardian are two distinct, different things. A Guardian is a person appointed by the Probate Court, following a hearing and a finding that someone (called the Ward) is incompetent and in need of a Guardian to conduct their affairs. A Guardian must be bonded, must make official accountings to the Court, and cannot spend the Ward's assets without approval of the Court. Once appointed, a Guardian may revoke a prior Power of Attorney given by the Ward.

A "POA," is a common abbreviation for "Power of Attorney." This term is often used interchangeably to describe a person or a legal document. Also, there are different types of Powers of Attorney; common types include, General Durable Power of Attorney, Limited Power of Attorney, and Health Care Power of Attorney.

Technically, a POA is a legal document that appoints a person, known as an Agent or as the Attorney-in-fact, to act or conduct affairs for another person, knows as the Principal. Thus, in your question, your Aunt would be the Principal, and the Daughter would be the Agent.

It is imperative to note that a person cannot unilaterally decide to become an Agent; thus, the Daughter cannot of her own accord decide to become your Aunt's Agent. Your Aunt must take some affirmative steps to declare that she wants the Daughter to be her Agent. In addition, your Aunt must possess a proper level of capacity in order to do this or to make a Power of Attorney. Typically, the attorney consulted to prepare the legal documents would make some determination about the Principal's level of capacity.

Based on your description, it appears that your Aunt has asked you to do certain things for her and has granted you the authority to do so; based on the law of Agency, you have been acting as a de facto Agent for her for some period of time. Your risk and liability is largely a function of your acting as her Agent and has much less to do with the daughter's status. If you guide your actions by what is in your Aunt's best interests and disregard your own interest, you should steer clear of problems. Of course, as an Agent, you can always be called upon by the Principal to account for your actions, so I suggest you keep detailed records of all transactions and any requests your Aunt makes of you. Also, after death, during estate administration proceedings, a Probate Court can be asked to require an Agent to account for actions taken on behalf of the decedent while they were still living.

Good luck resolving your situation; please note that this is very general legal information and you should meet with a local attorney in order to have your situation reviewed in detail.