My parents would like to give me signing authority on their bank accounts. The accounts are currently part of the family trust and the bank informed us the trust would need to be amended in order to provide me with signing authority. I am currently successor trustee. Would a Durable Power of Attorney provide me access to the accounts should I be put in the position of having to pay bills etc while one parent is still living but unable to handle financial matters?
If it is a trust account, a POA would not be the proper tool. If you are talking about a revocable living trust in the names of both your parents as grantors/trustees/beneficiaries, then your parents could probably add you as a current co-trustee and successor trustee. If one parent only is living and the second parent becomes incapacitated under most living trust arrangements the successor trustee should be able to step in and handle assets in the trust.
Banks have rules of their own, and each bank's rules are a little different. I believe the only way the bank will allow you to sign checks from the family trust account, is to amend the trust to give you such authority.
The question I would ask is why do your parents want you to have access to the accounts? If they want you to manage their trust, they could resign in which case you as successor would take over. That may be relinquishing more authority than they care to do at this time. If they just want to have you pay their bills, they could open a new checking account in their personal names, outside the trust, and then give you check writing authority under an immediate limited power of attorney or a good durable general power of attorney that becomes effective upon their incapacity. We do it all the time.
If your parents' checking account is titled in their living trust, then you will need to be appointed as a third trustee in order to be able to sign checks on that account. Or, as others pointed out, one or more of your parents may want to resign as trustee and appoint you as a successor; however, you may not want that degree of responsibility and they may not want to relinquish all control over their assets. If all your parents want is help paying their bills, you could sit down with them, fill out the checks, and have them sign the checks.
