KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Subscriber overrides POA holder's request to have access to cameras and codes June 16, 2026 *********************** Subscriber overrides POA holder's request to have access to cameras and codes *********************** Ken We have a situation I’d like to get your legal advice on. Subscriber signed our 3 year Residential All in One Kirschenbaum contract in January of this year. She is 89 and has a POA living out of state. Our subscriber is adamant that she does not want her POA to have access to her security or camera system. We have a service call to add the POA to the system during a service call tomorrow, please let us know if this is not the action we should be taking. Nicole ******************** Response ******************** This is an interesting question; the answer requires a bit of legal analysis. I am going to accept your facts, which in a nutshell are that your 89 year old subscriber has let you know that she doesn't want you to honor a request by someone holding her Power Of Attorney access to her security codes and cameras. My first thought was that the person holding the POA likely wants to be able to check on the grantor of the POA, perhaps one of the reasons the POA was needed in the first place. But a POA does not typically override directions from the grantor, in your case, the 89 year old subscriber. The POA permits the one holding the power the right to act on behalf of the grantor. POA are not all the same; generally they are limited by the terms of the POA, so for example, the POA may be limited to one or more real estate transactions, or one investment or another, or, in some cases, all matters in which the grantor could exercise any action; this would be a General Power of Attorney. Then the POA can be limited in duration; time. It can exclude certain things; it is not generally the same as a Living Will, in which the grantor designates another to make health care decisions. Your question raises the issue of whether the grantor of the POA can override the person acting under the POA, which is happening in your scenario. The general answer is yes, the grantor has ultimate control and say. That could change if the grantor is incompetent, but I think the status of incompetent is not one that can be decided by anyone other than a Judge, after a competency hearing; it can't be decided by the person with the POA and surely can't be decided by you. A Court appointed Conservator or Guardian would override the subscriber, but not someone with a POA. If you have clear contradictory requests honor the subscriber's direction. ******************* STANDARD FORMS Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements. click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
