Bank Refusing Power of Attorney in South Carolina: Your Rights Under § 62-8-120

Why Banks Refuse Valid Powers of Attorney

You're standing at the bank counter with a properly executed, notarized South Carolina durable power of attorney. Your parent is incapacitated. You need to pay their mortgage, their medical bills, their property taxes. The branch manager looks at your document, disappears for twenty minutes, comes back, and says they can't process any transactions today. They need to "send it to legal for review."

This happens constantly. Banks refuse valid powers of attorney for reasons that range from genuine compliance caution to institutional laziness: the document isn't on their proprietary form, the teller has never seen a POA before, the compliance department wants to review it but has no deadline for doing so, or the branch manager is simply afraid of personal liability.

South Carolina's legislature anticipated this problem. The Uniform Power of Attorney Act includes one of the strongest bank enforcement mechanisms in the country.

The Seven-Day Rule Under § 62-8-120

S.C. Code Ann. § 62-8-120 creates a specific, enforceable timeline that financial institutions must follow when presented with a valid, acknowledged power of attorney:

Day 1: Presentation. You present the POA to the bank. The clock starts.

Within 7 business days, the bank must either:

• Accept the power of attorney and process your transactions, OR
• Request an agent's certification, a translation, or an opinion of counsel concerning the power of attorney

If they request one of these responses: Once you provide the requested certification, translation, or opinion of counsel, the bank has 5 additional business days to accept the POA.

What they cannot do: A bank cannot refuse a valid South Carolina power of attorney solely because it's not on their own proprietary form. They cannot require you to execute their institution-specific power of attorney as a condition of accepting the statutory one. They cannot impose an indefinite "legal review" with no timeline.

What Happens When a Bank Violates This Rule

The teeth of the statute are in § 62-8-120(c): any financial institution that unreasonably refuses to accept a valid, acknowledged power of attorney is subject to:

• A court order compelling acceptance of the document
• Liability for all reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred by the agent in obtaining that court order

This means the bank doesn't just lose the legal fight — they pay your lawyer too. That liability exposure is why a well-written demand letter citing this statute often resolves the situation without any court filing at all. Branch managers who've never heard of § 62-8-120 tend to reconsider quickly once their compliance department reads the actual statute.

The Agent's Certification Form (§ 62-8-119)

When a bank requests certification, they're asking for a sworn affidavit from the agent confirming:

• The agent's identity and relationship to the principal
• That the power of attorney is still in effect and has not been revoked
• That the principal has not regained capacity (if the POA was activated upon incapacity)
• That the agent's authority has not been suspended or terminated

This is a reasonable safeguard — it protects banks from acting on a POA that's been revoked without their knowledge. Once the requested response is provided, the 5-business-day acceptance clock applies.

The statutory certification form is straightforward, but it must be signed under penalty of perjury. Getting the language right matters — an incomplete or improperly sworn certification gives the bank a legitimate basis for further delay.

Step-by-Step: What to Do When You're Refused

At the branch:

1. Ask for the refusal in writing, including the specific reason
2. Note the date, time, branch location, and the name of the person who refused
3. Ask whether they're requesting an agent's certification under § 62-8-119
4. If they say "we need to send it to legal," ask for a specific timeline and cite the 7-business-day statutory deadline

Within 24 hours:

1. Send a formal written demand to the branch manager and the bank's compliance department
2. Reference S.C. Code Ann. § 62-8-120 by name, including the attorney's fees liability provision
3. State that you expect compliance within the statutory timeframe
4. Keep a copy of everything you send

If the 7-day deadline passes without acceptance:

1. File a petition with the appropriate South Carolina court for an order compelling acceptance
2. Include the demand letter, the refusal documentation, and the timeline showing the bank exceeded the statutory period
3. Request attorney's fees as provided under § 62-8-120(c)

In practice, most banks comply after receiving a written demand letter that correctly cites the statute. The few that don't are usually dealing with a genuine concern — a document that's actually deficient, a suspicion of elder abuse, or a POA that appears to have been revoked. Those concerns are legitimate and require a different approach than a statutory demand.

Common Bank Objections and How to Address Them

"We need our own form." Cite § 62-8-120: a bank cannot require its own form as a condition of accepting a valid statutory POA.

"This document is too old." South Carolina's Uniform Power of Attorney Act doesn't include an expiration date for POAs. Age alone is not a valid basis for refusal. The bank may legitimately ask for a certification confirming the document hasn't been revoked.

"We need to verify this is recorded." If the principal is incapacitated, this is actually a valid concern — § 62-8-109(c) requires recording after incapacity. If you haven't recorded yet, the bank is right. Record the POA at the Register of Deeds first, then return with the stamped original.

"The principal needs to come in." If the principal lacks capacity, this is both impossible and irrelevant — that's the entire point of a durable power of attorney. Provide the physician's incapacity certification if the bank requests documentation.

Preventing Bank Refusals Before They Happen

The easier path is avoiding the confrontation entirely:

• Record the financial POA with the Register of Deeds before you need it
• Introduce yourself and the POA at the parent's bank while the parent still has capacity — some banks will note the POA in their records and add the agent to the account in advance
• Keep a certified copy with the agent's certification pre-signed and ready
• Bring the original document, not a photocopy, when conducting transactions

The South Carolina Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit includes the statutory demand language and agent certification form you'd need if a bank refuses — plus the recording instructions that prevent the most common legitimate basis for rejection.

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