Man marries woman. Wife gets power of attorney, uses said document to sign checks on husband's account. Wife is never added to checking account as a signer.

Man decides to file for divorce. Signs a new power of attorney revoking the old one and giving rights to sister and mother.

Bank account is closed. Man files for divorce.

Man dies.

Wife keeps writing checks.

Would you file a forgery charge? Are you concerned as to notice to the wife that her power of attorney is revoked by the new P/O/A?

Is a P/O/A immediately revoked upon the death of the signer? Should this be handled as a property dispute in the probate court?

Do either of the P/O/A's have to be filed at the county clerk's office to become effective? (I believe the answer is no.)

The power of attorney expires at death. I do not believe it has to be filed with the county clerk. The ex-husband's death should have been notice enough to her that she no longer had power of attorney, if the divorce filing did not otherwise provide her the notice.

As to whether forgery charges should be filed, it would depend on whether she had notice of his death, the number of checks wrtitten, the dollar amount of the forged checks, and whether she is willing to make restitution to the estate. However, if the divorce was never finalized and the wife is a beneficiary in the will, then I do not know what you would be accomplishing by filing criminal charges.

That the wife might not have had notice of the revocation of the authority previously granted conceivably gives rise to a mistake of fact defense. But whether or not she had notice of the death, it terminated her authority. Furthermore, the checks drawn after hubby's death were on the account of a non-existent person. Of course, you might have the argument that the funds on deposit were community property.

Divorce was never finalized.
Wife knew of the death. (Family wants to blame wife for the death. Formal inquest determined death to be a suicide.)

I think we can file the forgery; whether or not we look bad depends on who she was paying with the checks. The S.O. has one check, the P.D. has the others. (The details of this case are astoundingly similar to most Jerry Springer themes.)

Thanks for the thoughts.