Mother and Son own a house in joint names. Son has Power of Attorney and decides to sell. Who gets the money?

Question

Mother and Son own a house in joint names. Son has Power of Attorney and decides to sell. Who gets the money?

Answer 1

well there's two things here

1) The son cannot valid sell the property as both himself AND attorney for his mother.  Either mother would need to appoint a 3rd party as attorney; or the son will need to appoint an attorney for himself, while he acts for his mother.

Technically he cannot give a valid receipt for the money, as the trust between them is not overreached

even if his lawyers tried to do this (which would be risky as it looks dodgy from square 1)  the buyers' lawyers would not agree with it as it gives them problems down the line.

2) The money would likely be paid to him "as attorney for Mrs"

If he is attorney, he has a legal duty to act in her best interests, so the money is not his alone.

it's fairly obvious that if he took all the money himself and did a runner then it;s a very malicious way to defraud his mum.

Answer 2

If the house is owned by both the Mother and the Son, then no matter what, the money should be shared.  

Answer 3

Both

Answer 4

When the check is issued it will be sent in the name of the mother & the son.  Just because the son has power of attorney and decided to sale doesn't mean he gets all the money.

Answer 5

If the deed reads Mary Smith & James Smith then the check that is received from the title company or bank will be made payable the same way and have both names on it.

Now, if the Power of Attorney document is one granting financial authority, then James Smith would endorse the check twice; once as James Smith property owner, and once as James Smith for Mary Smith P.O.A.  He would need to provide a copy of the Power of Attorney to the bank and then he would be able to do as he wished with the money. His mother's bank should have a copy of the Power of Attorney documents on file anyways.

Power of Attorney documents are only good while the person for whom the POA is over is alive.  There are also different types of documents, some only give authority for specific financial matters, some only give authority for medical matters etc.  

Answer 6

should be split equally.  

Answer 7

If the house is in both names and only one person wants to sell then the other owner would have to buy out the other person to keep the house unless the other owner is deemed unable to make rational decisions, then the POA would then handle the sale of the house, but the money would have to be split 50/50.

Answer 8

Morally mother and son

Law not sure.

Answer 9

The title/escrow company that disperses the money would issue the check as a joint check made out to all owners.  The owners would decide how to split the money.

Answer 10

Proceeds will be issued by one check payable to the both mother and son.  

Answer 11

In case this Power of Attorney allows him to sell... both of them get money... half half