POA - who's wrong here?

[TheFlossy]

Please forgive me as I don't want to give too many details here. DM's relative passed away today. This relative didn't live in the UK. DM was named executor of the will. DM isn't able to travel to be there for any of this. She just told me that she contacted the lawyer today and her aunt was already there with him. The lawyer said that if DM wants things to move quickly without being there herself, she will need to give POA to her aunt to do what needs to be done.

I became concerned hearing this. But I'm not extremely au fait with the law. Can DM's aunt do anything untoward if she is granted power of attorney?

Depends what country DMs aunt is in doesnt it as it will go by their laws. What’s the rush though? If I were your mother I’d ask the solicitor to give her a call without the aunt there then ask them why they thought it appropriate to assume it was okay to give the aunt a POA and what knowledge they have of the family. It sounds like you don’t trust the aunt and that she must have a motivation to do something onwards.

To be honest I don't have an opinion on DM's aunt either way. It was DM herself that said she felt uneasy about her aunt being so involved in everything that's been going on. But now DM is happy to sign over POA and I don't really want to stay involved to be honest. There's no reason to rush it in my opinion and I don't see why she can't just go when she is able and sort it out then.

If Aunt is in the same country as the deceased why didn’t the deceased make aunt executor? That is the question I would be asking myself.

Power of Attorney doesn’t overrule an executor of a will. If that’s what POA means. The executor of a will is completely separate. Have they never heard of emails? Who needs to go anywhere in person right now? DM should continue to be Executor. Don’t be bounced out of it.

That's a huge relief, thank you @PresentingPercy

@DollyPomPoms the aunt won't be receiving anything from the estate. So I don't know, perhaps it was to prevent Aunt feeling like she's being taken for or a ride.