After some arguing and debate, my dad has decided to put my sister on his checking account as a check writer, and make me Power of Attorney. I'm not quite sure what the difference is. (none of this has been done yet, I'm just trying to get some info before hand. and I've had a nasty cold and not fit for public.) The reasoning for this is that I live in the house with him, and my sister does not.

The difference is that your sister can only act in your father's interest relative to that one checking account, where you can act on his behalf on anything that he would be able to do.

My dad says that my two oldest brothers are listed as executors of his will, but as I haven't seen the will, I can't confirm this. My oldest brother had told me that the will was quite general. My mother is worried that it is so general that they will lock up all the funds and not let anyone in for an extended period of time. As her income is dependent on my dad's income, this will cause her a problem.


If your father's accounts are held jointly with your mother, then she will inherit those funds completely upon his death. Joint accounts do not go through probate, and so the will has nothing to do with those.

It does sound, though, like your father is doing some do-it-yourself estate planning, and my experience is that that seldom gives the desired results.

You might check over on the estate planning board for more info. http://boards.fool.com/estate-planning-and-the-fool-113006.a...