If someone holding power of attorney is stealing the inheritance you expect to receive, you can demand a formal accounting of every transaction, petition a court to revoke the POA or remove the agent, sue to recover what was taken, and report the conduct to Adult Protective Services and law enforcement. You usually do not have to wait for the principal to die or for probate to open. The sooner you move, the more likely the money and property can be traced and recovered.
Do You Have the Right to Act?
A common misconception is that only the principal can hold a dishonest agent accountable. That would make the system nearly useless, because the people most vulnerable to this kind of abuse are often incapacitated and cannot act for themselves. Under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, which most states have adopted in some form, a broad group of people can petition a court to review the agent’s conduct:1eSign. Uniform Power of Attorney Act – Final Version – 2006
- The principal or agent
- A guardian, conservator, or other fiduciary acting for the principal
- A person authorized to make health-care decisions for the principal
- The principal’s spouse, parent, or descendant
- A presumptive heir
- A named beneficiary who would receive property, a benefit, or a contractual right at the principal’s death
- A government agency with regulatory authority to protect the principal’s welfare
- The principal’s caregiver or another person who shows sufficient interest in the principal’s welfare
If you are an adult child, grandchild, sibling with standing as a presumptive heir, or someone named in a will or trust, you almost certainly have the right to bring this before a court while the principal is still alive.
What the Agent Is Actually Required to Do
An agent under a POA has what the law calls a fiduciary duty. They work for the principal and nobody else. They must act loyally, avoid conflicts of interest, and never use the principal’s money or property for personal benefit. They have to keep the principal’s assets completely separate from their own, and they have a default duty to keep records of every receipt, disbursement, and transaction made on the principal’s behalf.1eSign. Uniform Power of Attorney Act – Final Version – 2006
The agent’s authority is bounded by the four corners of the POA document. Someone with authority over bank accounts does not automatically have the right to sell the principal’s house, make gifts, or change beneficiary designations. Gift authority in particular has to be expressly granted, and even then is typically capped at the annual federal gift tax exclusion per recipient ($19,000 in 2025). Gifts the agent makes to themselves are especially suspect and require explicit authorization. An agent who writes themselves a $50,000 check and calls it a gift is almost certainly breaching their duty, even if the word “gifts” appears in the document.
Red Flags of Inheritance Theft
This kind of theft rarely looks like one dramatic event. It usually unfolds through smaller transactions that individually seem explainable but collectively drain the estate you were supposed to inherit:
- Frequent ATM withdrawals, wire transfers to unfamiliar accounts, or checks written to the agent or their family members
- Life insurance, retirement, or annuity beneficiary designations suddenly changed to name the agent or someone new, redirecting assets away from the original estate plan
- The principal’s home or other valuable assets sold to the agent, a friend, or a relative at a steep discount
- The agent paying their own mortgage, credit cards, or personal expenses from the principal’s funds
- The principal’s money deposited into the agent’s personal account, making it nearly impossible to trace
- The agent discouraging or preventing family members from visiting, calling, or reviewing financial statements
Any one of these warrants investigation. Two or more in combination is a pattern that rarely has an innocent explanation.
Demand a Formal Accounting
Before or alongside anything else, you can demand that the agent produce a full accounting of every transaction made on the principal’s behalf. Under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, the agent must comply within 30 days when the request comes from the principal, a guardian, a conservator, another fiduciary, a government welfare agency, or (after the principal’s death) the personal representative or successor in interest of the estate. If the agent needs more time, they have to explain why in writing and comply within an additional 30 days.1eSign. Uniform Power of Attorney Act – Final Version – 2006
If the agent refuses or stalls, you can petition the court to compel one. Filing fees generally run between $250 and $500 depending on the jurisdiction. The accounting itself is often the moment a case breaks open. An agent who cannot explain where the money went has effectively built your case for you.
Revoke the POA or Remove the Agent
If the Principal Is Still Competent
The fastest solution is revocation. The principal signs a written revocation, ideally notarized, and delivers notice to the agent and to any financial institutions that have the POA on file. If the POA was recorded with a county office, record the revocation in the same place. Once revoked, the agent has zero authority to transact. The principal can then appoint a new agent or do without one.
Convincing the principal to revoke can be its own challenge. An abusive agent often works hard to maintain the principal’s trust or dependence, which is why isolation so often accompanies financial exploitation.
If the Principal Is Incapacitated
If the principal cannot revoke the POA on their own, interested family members have to go through the courts. The usual route is petitioning for guardianship or conservatorship. A court that appoints a guardian can revoke or modify the existing POA, especially after finding that the agent breached their fiduciary duty. In urgent situations where assets are actively being drained, many courts can appoint a temporary or emergency guardian on an expedited basis while the full case plays out.
Guardianship is a serious step. Courts treat it as a last resort because it strips significant autonomy from the person placed under it. You will usually need clear and convincing evidence of incapacity and of the absence of a less restrictive alternative. When the agent is actively stealing, though, courts move with real urgency.
Sue to Recover What Was Taken
When the accounting shows misappropriation, or when the agent refuses to account at all, a civil lawsuit becomes the primary tool for getting the money back. The common claims are breach of fiduciary duty, conversion (the civil equivalent of theft), fraud, and unjust enrichment. These can be brought on behalf of the principal while they are alive, or on behalf of the estate after death.
If you win, a court can order the agent to restore the value of the principal’s property to what it would have been had the breach never happened, plus reimburse attorney fees and costs. In cases involving particularly egregious or intentional conduct, courts in many states will also award punitive damages. The combination of compensatory damages, fee-shifting, and punitive exposure gives you meaningful leverage, and many of these cases settle once the agent realizes that full financial discovery is coming.
Report the Theft
POA theft is not just a civil matter. Every state has criminal statutes addressing elder financial exploitation, and many specifically criminalize misuse of a power of attorney for personal gain. Depending on the amount stolen and the state, charges range from misdemeanors to serious felonies.2U.S. Department of Justice. Elder Abuse and Elder Financial Exploitation Statutes A criminal investigation can run in parallel with your civil case, and a conviction strengthens the civil claim considerably.
File a report with your local police or district attorney. Report the abuse to your state’s Adult Protective Services agency as well; APS investigates allegations of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, can intervene directly, and can refer the matter to law enforcement. If you are not sure which agency to contact, the national Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 will connect you with operators who can point you to the right local resource.3U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Do I Report Elder Abuse or Abuse of an Older Person or Senior
How Long You Have to Act
Every state sets a statute of limitations for breach of fiduciary duty claims, and missing it costs you the right to sue no matter how strong the evidence is. Most states allow somewhere between three and six years, depending on whether the claim is treated as a property injury, an equitable claim, or a fraud-based action.
The critical wrinkle is the discovery rule. POA theft is hidden by nature. The agent controls the books, and heirs often have no idea anything is wrong until the principal dies or enters a care facility. In most states, the clock does not start running until the injured party discovered the wrongdoing, or should have discovered it with reasonable diligence. The test is generally whether a person of ordinary intelligence would have had reason to suspect fraud given the facts available.
The discovery rule gives you breathing room, but it is not unlimited. Courts expect you to investigate once you have reason to be suspicious. If you notice red flags and sit on them for years, a court could decide the clock started when the suspicions first arose, not when you finally confirmed them. The moment something looks wrong, document it and talk to a lawyer.
Evidence to Start Gathering Now
The strength of any claim comes down to documentation. Start collecting the following as early as you can:
- The POA document itself, which defines the boundaries of the agent’s authority and is where every analysis of whether the agent overstepped begins
- Bank and investment statements from before and during the agent’s tenure, looking for recurring transfers to unfamiliar accounts, withdrawals that spike after the appointment, or balances that drop faster than living expenses would explain
- County deed records showing real estate transfers or sales, especially sales to the agent or their relatives at below-market prices
- The principal’s wills, trusts, and beneficiary designation forms, which establish what the principal intended and reveal the divergence between that plan and what the agent actually did
- Emails, texts, and letters between the agent and the principal or other family members, which can show the agent’s knowledge, intent, or attempts to conceal what they were doing
If you cannot access financial records directly, the court can compel production through the accounting process or through discovery once a lawsuit is filed. Banks and financial institutions respond to valid subpoenas. You do not need every document before you file; you need enough to show a court that something warrants investigation.