My mom is in a home with severe demensia and I am her power of attorney. Mom's will was burned in a fire in 2008, therefore her property goes to the estate. Her RRIFs were to be used for her funeral expense. My question is: if I receive a call saying mom is on limited time, can I cash in her RRIFs to ensure monies are available for her funeral.

My mom is in a home with severe demensia and I am her power of attorney. Mom's will was burned in a fire in 2008, therefore her property goes to the estate.

Are there no copies of the will available? If a lawyer was employed to write the will I bet s/he would have a copy.


Her RRIFs were to be used for her funeral expense. My question is: if I receive a call saying mom is on limited time, can I cash in her RRIFs to ensure monies are available for her funeral.

RRIF = Railroad Retirement Income Fund, correct? As I understand RRIFs you can take as much as you like, whenever you like, but there will be income tax implications (so don't spend it all). If your PoA grants you authority over her financial affairs then yes, you can do this. However, I would suggest that since the purpose of the RRIF is to provide a steady stream of income for your mother that you want to be quite sure that the stream of income is no longer needed before doing this. If possible it may be better to use other assets to pay for the funeral - for example does she have any life insurance, or other savings? Or if the estate is the beneficiary of the RRIF (as opposed to another named beneficiary such as yourself) then perhaps you could make a personal loan to the estate to cover funeral expenses to be reimbursed after the RRIF balance is paid out to the estate.