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My mom recently passed after 7 yrs of living with dementia. I had POA, Legal Guardianship, Conservatorship and access to all of her financial accounts.
Would there be a probate or other legal problem paying for her funeral & burial expenses out of her bank accounts instead of using life insurance proceeds? Any checks would be signed and dated after her date of death.

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Are you secondary on her accounts?

Are the accounts still open ? (call the bank to find out).

Have you consulted the lawyer who assisted with Guardianship? I believe those end at dear, as does POA.

If you held a joint account with your mother, there should be no problem with paying her expenses from that account. But IANYL. (I am not your lawyer).
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mlj9592 Jun 2023
Thank you. My brother is listed as joint owner, so that should be helpful.
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Even if accounts are not joint, if they had been set up to be POD (payable on death) the beneficiary may use the funds as they see fit as the account in essence belongs to them now. Are the life insurance funds not available, or is it just that it will take too long for them to be disbursed? Like Barb, IANYL.
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mlj9592 Jun 2023
Honestly, I just want expenses paid sooner than later and she has funds available to do that. The account was set up as joint with my brother, so it seems I should be ok. I'll double check with the bank. Thank you!
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I would say, that this is a question for the funeral director. I am sure they have had to wait for insurance to pay out or an Executor to take over. (Probate can't be started until a certain amt of days after death) My Mom prepaid her funeral so no problem with payment.

But be aware that if there is a beneficiary/s, other than a spouse, that person/s are not obligated to pay funeral expenses. The money is theirs.

A friend of mine remarried in her 50s. She had a 100k insurance policy thru her employer with her daughter as beneficiary. She always felt her DD would pay for her funeral and keep the balance. The DD found out as beneficiary that she was not obliged to pay the funeral costs. So didn't when my friend passed. Since the trailer the DD lived in was owned by the husband he evicted her and sold the trailer to pay for the funeral.
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The POA, unless ALSO the appointed executor, has lost all power to access funds at the point of death. The accounts, you may already recognize, are (should be) frozen as soon as the death is reported. POA ends at the moment of death. So IF the funds are in your mother's name, with you as POA or other fiduciary capacity (NOT co-owner) those funds cannot be accessed by you.
If you are next of kin, and will be executor of estate, the funeral, if not prepaid, will have to be paid according to the facility managing the services, and can be reimbursed to the person paying out of the estate of the deceased. It can ALSO be BILLED to the Estate of your mother.

If the deceased had only a POA, and there is no will, no known executor, and the chapel, funeral director is unwilling to put in place any payment deferral, or timed payment, I am uncertain myself what next steps should be done.

You will need to discuss with your mother's banks the disposition of her accounts now. You will need to discuss with the funeral establishment the steps forward for her services, and accept, please, my condolences for your loss.
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