Question

An elderly customer has gifted stock from her brokerage account to her four children every year for the last 20 years, with the gift amount set at the annual IRS gift tax exclusion amount. You receive a phone call from the customer's oldest daughter stating that her mother is suffering from advanced dementia and has been moved to a long-term care facility. She instructs you to make the annual stock gift distributions to herself and her siblings. You should: A follow the daughter's instructions because the eldest adult child has automatic power of attorney over a parent's account under common law if the parent becomes mentally incompetent B follow the daughter's instructions only if she can produce a durable power of attorney that was signed by her mother C follow the daughter's instructions because there is an established 20-year pattern of giving stock gifts from the mother's account to her children D not follow the daughter's instructions under any circumstances and only take direction from the mother because the mother is still living

Answer 1

The answer is "Choice B"

Step-by-step explanation:

In this case, choice b is right because only when she can offer a permanent power of attorney authorized from her mother, would she also obey the daughter's instructions. Throughout this situation, we can do nothing which the daughter demands unless this develops a lasting enforcement power that the mother signs.