A Power of Attorney (POA) does not automatically allow the agent (attorney-in-fact) to change a beneficiary designation on accounts, life insurance policies, retirement plans, or similar assets. Beneficiary designations are considered personal decisions that affect how your assets are distributed after your death. Most legal systems treat them as “testamentary” or special acts that are not included in a standard financial POA.
Can a Person with Power of Attorney Change a Beneficiary?
By default, an agent can manage day-to-day financial matters such as paying bills, handling banking transactions, or managing investments. But changing beneficiaries requires specific authorisation in the POA document itself. So, a POA can change a beneficiary only if the document explicitly grants that specific authority.
If the POA does not explicitly state that the agent may create or modify beneficiary designations, that authority does not exist, and financial institutions will usually refuse such changes to protect the principal and themselves.
Even when a POA does contain language permitting beneficiary changes, the agent must still act under a fiduciary duty. It means they must make changes that reflect the principal’s intentions and best interests, not benefit themselves.
Courts often scrutinise beneficiary changes under POA, especially if the agent names themselves or someone close to them as a new beneficiary, and such actions can be challenged or overturned as breaches of duty.
Importantly, a power of attorney ends when the principal dies, so it cannot be used to change beneficiaries after death, only while the principal is alive and competent to grant or confirm the action. I hope you understood can a power of attorney change a beneficiary.
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Can A Power of Attorney Change a Beneficiary?
ravi
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2025-12-23T07:07:57+00:00 2025-12-23T07:07:58+00:00Comment
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