Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

A person who has been appointed by a power of attorney no longer has authority to do anything on behalf of the person who made the appointment, once that person has died. So, no, a person who has a power of attorney cannot change the beneficiary on the deceased person's life insurance policy.

This response is not legal advice, since I do not have all of the information that would be required, and I do not have a representation agreement with you.

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Attorney Jacobsen is correct. A power of attorney ends at death. Once the principal (the person who made the power of attorney) has died, the agent can no longer act. This is in general - usually, there are provisions that if an agent does not know that the principal has passed on and acts in good faith, the courts may uphold what the agent has done.

However, another more fundamental question is whether the agent even had the power in the first place to change the beneficiary on a life insurance policy? It would be necessary to review the power of attorney to answer this question. If the agent did not have the power, then he or she could not do this anyway.

Is the agent also the personal representative of the estate? In that case, the representative might be able to claim benefits for the named beneficiary, but the personal representative has no ability to legally change the beneficiary to someone else or keep the money for him or herself.

That all said, people don't do what is right and if that person has a mind to do something illegal, then the real beneficiary has to stop them by contacting the insurance company immediately before any funds are paid out. Once the funds are paid, the beneficiary might be able to sue, but is going to have a very hard time getting the money back and will have to get a lawyer to pursue a claim in equity and ask for a constructive trust.