Yes, an accounting can be asked for, but "why does he want this?" is the question that the courts will ask. Since there was no will, he has no vested interest. Are there unpaid bills?

Since there was no will, unless there was a spouse....the surviving sons are heirs to any estate.
Acquaintance, since he is an heir, has every right to an accounting.
He will have to hire a lawyer, who will formally request the accounting, and that the estate go to probate.

Was there any property at all, any money? If the father died without anything and intestate, then probably no probate. If there was anything, then yes, it would have to go thru the courts.

Here's an article about what happens when you die without a will in California.

Here is a link that might be useful: Who gets what

The above advice is correct. I just want to add that a power of attorney is null and void after death. So that is a moot point.

When one accepts the responsibility of operating as someone's POA, they also accept the legal responsibility of having to account for EVERY PENNY of the money they spend. And every penny HAS to be spent for the benefit of the person/patient.

Your friend needs a lawyer if he wants to pursue this. But warn him, depending upon how far he wants to take it, it can become expensive. If there was a significant amount of money involved, it may be worth it. I've many times recounted our family story. SIL had POA over MIL. In the space of a little over a year, SIL spent over a quarter of a million $$$. Mind you, MIL was living at home (in a paid off house), being taken care of by family. To this day, we don't know where all the money went. Our journey to right this wrong involved: a 7 year battle, legal and forensic accounting fees that approached $20,000, the complete break-up of a family, threats from the prosecutor's office that if WE didn't cooperate with them (they wanted to put SIL in jail) WE'd be charged with a crime--but our lawyer forstalled that for us.

SIL was resistant to accounting for how the money was being spent (as one can imagine--since it was going for vacations, shopping sprees for her grandchildren, $200+ restaurant bills and many other things that MIL could not possibly use/enjoy).

I have to say, having 'been there/done that' as the kids say, I'm a bit divided on what to recommend to your friend. On the one hand, it's obscene to let someone get away with stealing (and that's the logical assumption, if the POA is reluctant to supply an accounting). On the other--the kind of fight it takes to get the information and then correct the wrongs is long, upsetting, expensive... If I knew 8 years ago what we would be going through and what it could cost us emotionally? I think I'd have insisted to my husband that we walk away from the outlaws, and leave them to fight amongst themselves until they burned each other out.

Before your friend makes up his mind, though, he's going to have to sit down with his attorney, discuss the facts of the case, discover what his options are, and then he'll have a better basis for deciding what HE wants to do. I will add this--about that $20,000 we spent? That's really conservative for what one of these battles can cost. Our lawyer didn't charge us nearly what he could have--he didn't count up minutes for phone calls, he talked to us for hours at a time in his office, he put in many, many hours on our case that he didn't charge for. Also, the forensic accountant was so upset by the extremity of the case, that he put in a lot of hours gratis--we paid him a bundle, but not as much as we should have. Without having such good people on our side, our bills would probably have been double what they actually were, and we might not have been as successful in our fight to right a serious wrong.

It's a long, hard, painful fight. DH's take on it was that there are some fights you can't afford to take up, there are some you can't walk away from. We did do the right thing at the time--I know that--but it came with a terrible bill.

If this is over a small amount of money (under a couple of thousand $$$)--I'm not sure it would make sense to put out the kind of money/time it takes to fight.

I empathetically offer my very best wishes and hopes to your friend.

My brother had power of attorney when my dad got to the point he couldn't make decisions.

Klaus made all arrangements, while dad was living, and when dad died.

He then told us, what was left over from Dads funds, and divided it equal between us siblings and step siblings.

There were no questions asked.

Klaus did what he thought best, and sometimes would confer with us, when he had a hard time to make a decision.

We wouldn't think of asking him what he did with "all the money". If he took something extra, he deserved it, cause he did all the work.

So, long story short, no, never heard or thought of asking for the records.

Moni

My sister and I had POA for my mother, and named as joint administrators of her estate in her will. Her will identified that her estate be shared equally among all her children.

Other sister, who had a history of poor financial episodes(foreclosure, unpaid bills), decided to contest mother's will and drove us nuts for over a year(and cost the estate a lot of money in legal fees) with harassment, asking for multiple accountings of how monies spent on mother before her death. Went so far as to demand reasons why mother had her hair done, why new clothing, etc.
All in trying to take more than her share of what was not a large estate.

It was horrible. And yet, we never told her that mother had wanted to leave her nothing.

Moni--that's very nice of you. BUT it's not the legal definition of being a POA. There are specific legal responsibilities that go with it. A POA is required to use ALL the money for the person they're taking care of. It's ILLEGAL for them to 'take something extra' as you say--even if the family agrees; they have to keep careful records, to the penny; and they have to produce those records if asked for them.

So while it's wonderful that your brother was trustworthy, and that you all were comfortable with the job he did, it's also not wrong for this person to ask to see the accounting. It's his right as a relative and heir. It's his responsibility as someone who no doubt cares about whether his father was treated fairly.

And you can't really compare your family situation to the OP's--your family sounds open and trusting. And I bet Klaus would have been more than willing to share his financial records, had you asked. This brother WAS asked and has been refusing to answer or fulfill his fiduciary responsibility HUGE red flag. Sadly, some people lose all their ethics when money falls in front of them--I don't know for sure if that's the case here, but it looks suspiciously as if it might be.

I was my mother's POA and her executrix--at every step along the way, I updated my siblings, supplying them with written accountings (accurate to the penny) of the status of the estate. They didn't ask for that, but I wouldn't have done any differently. I'm currently POA for my aunt and treat that responsibility with the respect it deserves and will glady share/show the records of her money to anyone who asks--be they family, the IRS, or anyone else who has an interest in her financial health.

Once again I will reiterate. The POA's legal responsibility is only to the principal and their wishes not to the rest of the family or those who feel they are entitled to a portion of the estate.

If the acquaintance thought funds were being mishandled than he should have brought it up while his father was still alive and the POA was in force. As Monica found out digging up forensics after the death of the principal is a useless and costly endeavor.

If the father died without a will and there was no probate then the acquaintance has little to on. He cannot go after funds that were spent while his father was still alive. If there is nothing left then there is nothing left.

I bet there's a lot more to the story... Sounds to me like your friend's stepbrother may have been the one taking care of his dad all along and then in walks your friend who may have been of no help before the death and just now, "after" the death, is asking/looking into the money.... I've seen it before...some family members doing all the real work, etc and others only really interested in the money that's left for them.

Anyway, I don't know if that's the case... but if the step brother has power of attorney, he's at least been helping some/doing some of the work. Who helped take care of dad, made the funeral arrangemetns; who is cleaning out the house, etc...???

I'm sure the courts will settle the financial stuff... Depending on what was asked and exactly how, I too may have hung up on your friend...

I can very much relate to your situation Azzalea.

My sister had financial POA for my mother & wiped her out, because she thought she was deserving & did all the "work" & had a sense of entitlement. My Mom lived with sister & paid room/board from her meager SS check. Considering Mom had babysat for FREE for my sister's dtr for 12 years prior I thought it astounding sister would "charge" mom. Mom was/is still @ 96 alert, oriented, & can handle her own bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, etc so there was no real "work" involved. BUT Mom is/was blind & couldn't see to write checks. Thus sister became financial POA. To her detriment Mom was too meek & easily intimidated to ask questions, thus there was never any accounting between the 2 of the $ spent.

When Mom discovered she only had $300 in her checking & savings, she decided that she would move out of sisters home & go to a nursing home. I told her I would help her. I asked sister for information as to what mom's resources were. That's when things totally blew up & got very ugly. Mom went to the NH 5 years ago & on the one hand, is the happiest she has been... ever. On the other hand she has never, ever, ever gotten over the betrayal of trust my sister committed. She mentions it to me every.single.visit. My mom, 2 brothers, & I have not seen, nor heard a word from my sister in 5 years. That's the way we want it. I have asked my mom on several occasions if she would like to reconnect with sister that perhaps it could help her heal by talking things over. My mom says "no".

Sister "lawyered up" @ the time & I was sent threatening letters. We chose not to pursue it because 1. it would've been too much stress for mom to go thru and 2. the $ figure was substantial but not great. I did get in touch with the Area Agency on Aging & they pursued getting my sister with a threat of Medicaid fraud & she was forced to pay $5000 or so to the nursing home for Medicaid reimbursement.

While my sister deserved to go to jail, I am glad we decided not to pursue that avenue. It would have extracted to great a toll on my mom, as well as my brothers & myself, as Azzalea clearly states. It took many months for me to "get past it", but I myself am at a fine place in life without my sister. Some people don't deserve the title of "family".

Oh, Bee--your story is heartwrenching and familiar.

You've expressed the problem here. IF money was misappropriated, it's a crime (one that has a very long statute of limitations in my state--7 years). However, as long as you continue to fight, it takes an ongoing toll on the family.

Could not agree with you more. Some people do NOT deserve to be called family. We have gotten some peace in knowing we will never voluntarily spend time, money or energy on the outlaws ever again.

But what some who have answered here don't seem to understand is that supplying an accounting to anyone who has a legitimate reason for asking for one, IS the legal responsibility of a POA. The original question regards that. The friend has the LEGAL right to ask and get the accounting he requested.

You guys have been very helpful. I passed some info on to him.

pal's dad (still living) was being scammed by the dd...her brother finally got dad much needed records of HIS money being used for their persona; use..thanks be they got it changed before he was bled dry...so yes thereare times accounting is perfectly just..problem is after 2 years bet it's gone, or hidden...