A person can sign a power of attorney in a few minutes. The decisions made under it may affect a lifetime of savings, a home and the ability to pay for care.
That is the promise and the difficulty of the document. It lets someone trusted step in to help. It also puts another person in a position to move money and sign papers when the owner may have a harder time keeping track.
A Texas case involving an older woman, her friends and a disputed loan shows why the authority to act carries a responsibility to explain and account for those actions.
A loan, a lien and a trusted friend
According to the Third Court of Appeals' opinion in Amy v. West-Cobb, Phyllis West-Cobb met Patrick and Ruth Amy after her husband's death. In 2016, she paid off the couple's mortgage. Her attorney prepared a promissory note and a deed of trust securing the loan.
West-Cobb had reported memory problems years earlier, and the opinion describes a decline in her cognitive abilities. In December 2017, she signed a power of attorney naming Patrick as her agent. Among the transactions later examined was a release of the lien securing the couple's debt. The case also involved deeds affecting West-Cobb's home and her subsequent nursing-home costs.
The parties gave different accounts. The Amys maintained that West-Cobb had wanted to forgive their loan and had authorized the disputed transactions. West-Cobb's daughter, acting on her behalf, brought claims that included breach of fiduciary duty. The disagreement went to a jury.
The jury found that both Amys owed and breached fiduciary duties to West-Cobb and awarded damages. Patrick's role under the power of attorney created a formal fiduciary relationship; the jury also found an informal fiduciary relationship involving Ruth based on the evidence in this case. A friendship or family relationship alone does not automatically establish that kind of duty.
The appellate court concluded that legally sufficient evidence supported the relevant fiduciary-duty findings and damages. It affirmed the trial court's judgment and an order imposing a constructive trust and appointing a receiver. The Supreme Court of Texas denied a petition for review in October 2025; that denial was not a new decision on the merits.
The case does not establish that every transfer involving an agent is improper. The court reviewed a particular trial record, including conflicting testimony, and respected the jury's role in deciding whom to believe.
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Authority has a purpose
A financial power of attorney identifies a principal, the person granting authority, and an agent, the person authorized to act. The document's language matters: it determines which powers are granted and may address when they become effective.
Under Texas Estates Code Section 751.101, a person who accepts appointment under a durable power of attorney is a fiduciary to the principal when acting as agent and has duties to inform and account. Section 751.103 requires the agent to maintain records of actions taken and decisions made. Section 751.104 permits the principal to demand an accounting, subject to its terms; other people do not all have the same automatic right simply because they are relatives.
In practical terms, an agent should be able to explain how an action served the principal and support it with records. The agent's authority to handle property is not a personal entitlement to that property.
Care decisions and property decisions can also collide. In West-Cobb, the court described evidence that the deeds were followed by a period when she had to pay for nursing-home care herself. Medicaid rules are fact-specific, and the effect of a transfer cannot be determined from a deed alone. Seek advice before moving property or applying assumptions from another family's case.
Put safeguards in place while the conversation is possible
- Choose for the job. Consider whether the proposed agent is organized, trustworthy and willing to ask for help. Name a successor if appropriate.
- Discuss the actual powers. Review what the document permits, when authority begins and which transactions deserve special care.
- Keep a clear paper trail. Preserve statements, receipts, a transaction log and explanations for decisions made as agent. Avoid mixing the principal's money with the agent's own funds.
- Plan for appropriate visibility. Discuss with an attorney what information the principal wants shared, with whom, and how to document that choice while respecting privacy.
- Pause at conflicts. Gifts, loans, property transfers and transactions benefiting the agent deserve careful legal review before action.
- Revisit the plan. A diagnosis alone does not resolve every question about a person's capacity. Include the person in decisions to the extent possible and seek advice tailored to the decision at hand.
A good plan gives a trusted helper usable authority and gives the principal's wishes a place in the process. Learn about WG Law's elder-law services and estate planning. To discuss your family's situation, call 214-250-4407 or contact our North Texas team.
This article provides general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Texas law and individual circumstances can affect the result.