The in person Schwab rep suggested a work around. If I just bring the form to my bank they typically have a notary service. Employees can be witnesses since they are not employees of Schwab. I contacted my local bank and they said it was a service they provided for their customer. As a bonus I can have my trust doc notarized at the same time.The way the process is supposed to work is you present Schwab with a legally executed DPOA. Going to them to execute in front of them with their employees as witnesses obviously puts them in a position they don’t want to be in.
It’s Schwab who’s saying I need a court order. The rep doesn’t have knowledge of this are and defer me to the trust department. From my point of view I just want the DPOA version of their POA. From the trust department’s pov, they may have a client with memory issue and their kids may be trying to get at the money. The court order provides CYA.
The reason it takes so long is that my mom and I need to be at the same physical location to fill out and notarize the forms. I am getting closer.
There is plans to hire an estate attorney to do a state plan and DPOA, but I need to track down a good lawyer in ca and convince my mom that it will not result in her death because she is superstitious.
It may help if the DPOA was drafted and witnessed by an attorney. A brokerage deemed my dad at risk due to some phone interactions, and we got an updated DPOA drafted through an attorney, witnessed by the attorney and her paralegal and presented that to the brokerage and the brokerage accepted.
I’d really recommend you seeking out an attorney, either an elder law or estate planning attorney to assist you with this. You’ve spent 3 years on this. You need to get these things put in place before your mother becomes legally incapacitated, at which point you will need to pursue conservatorship.
I did track down an estate lawyer but that a friend in ca uses but discovered the lawyer is moving to a different state. I may try to get the departing lawyer’s recommendation. I really need someone who can make a will and trust and DPOA in ca but should I get someone who know elder law too?
Statistics: Posted by gavinsiu — Wed Dec 24, 2025 7:00 am — Replies 20 — Views 1699