Mom, 87, lives with me at my MD home and is now dying - Alzheimers. I hold POA. I share a joint checking/MM account with Mom and siblings in GA.

One sibling, who has been under psychiatric care for many years has indicated to other family members he may 'clean out' these accounts before Moms dies to make sure he "gets his money". Neither he nor any of my siblings have visited their Mom in more than 6 yrs.

Fearing the loss of all of mom funds, (including those i will need to bury her) I talked to an attorney who advised me to withdraw the funds from these joint accounts and put them in a dedicated checking account in my name only - that as POA for Mom it is my primary duty to protect her assets.

I can't leave Mom to fly to GA to conduct this transaction in person (say get a certified check) or I would.

So how do I handle making such a large withdrawal? Should I go to my bank here in MD, open a new checking account, and just write a check from the joint account in GA to fund it?

And is it necessary to tell my bank all these sordid details?

Thank you.

Any owner on the account can close the account and withdraw or transfer the funds. It should not be difficult to deposit a check into a new account under whatever ownership you choose, or have the bank wire the funds for you to the new account.

The bank needs instruction, not details. So long as you have rights to the funds, they should carry out the instructions.

Assuming you are going to be the executor/trix of the estate, you will want to keep meticulous records on all the assets, just in case there are sibling disputes on where the funds went.

As long as the bank in GA has record that you are POA there should be no problem in requesting that they close the account. You could also write a check for the funds in the account as you said, just make sure to communicate witht he bank that you would like the account closed. The editor is correct in saying that the bank really doesn't need details. They may ask you questions simply to find out why they are losing your deposits.