Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Debt Liability for Accounts Opened By POA
I hold General Power of Attorney for my mother-in-law, who is elderly and in a nursing home. We are both Virginia residents. I am planning to open a credit card account in her name, as the POA grants me authority to do. If her estate has insufficient funds to repay that debt after her death, will the credit card company have any right at all to collect that debt from me?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Debt Liability for Accounts Opened By POA
The General Power of Attorney confers upon you wide-ranging authority to act in your mother's behalf with respect to her financial and other affairs; it does not make you legally responsible in any manner for her debts or for those of her estate.
Re: Debt Liability for Accounts Opened By POA
You would not be personally liable UNLESS you act fraudulently by either (a) not disclosing that the application was made by POA; (b) misrepresenting assets or income; or (c) incurring debt that you knew or had reason to believe she lacks, or will lack, the ability to pay.
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