Even if you follow your state law on what's required for a Power of Attorney, it may not be good enough for the TreasuryDirect. I thought
this Bogleheads thread would be useful to highlight for those who have family members with savings bonds and TreasuryDirect accounts:
TreasuryDirect, long the bane of many of us, has thrown an interesting twist. They refuse to accept my parents' general power of attorney documents. Their state law requires a PoA to be notarized and recorded with the county recorder of deeds, which has been done. TreasuryDirect says they require a medallion signature guarantee on a PoA.
Other Boglehead members reported their issues with TreasuryDirect. Here's an excerpt from nonnie's post:
My experience with TreasuryDirect is that they can do anything they want to do. After months and months of increasing demands/requirements--each time I satisfied one, they wanted something else--we abandoned $750 of inherited EE bonds.
But it may not just be an issue with the TreasuryDirect. A few Boglehead members warn about POA issues they've seen. Here's an excerpt from wjo's post:
In my experience, most financial institutions will refuse a POA unless compelled to do so. They strongly prefer their own forms designating a POA. They seem to have judged that the risk of accepting a POA incorrectly is greater than the cost of not accepting them.
