What's the easiest way to setup POA? Parents are in their 80s and showing signs

I’d hire an attorney. They deal with these situations frequently. There may be layers of complexity that I am unaware of that vary state by state.

Do you have any siblings? They may need to sign off on documents.

You can find the form online and download it. Make sure you get a notary and have it signed in front of a Dr who will write a note that they were of sound mind when they signed the POA

Since parents are in LA, get a Louisiana lawyer, preferably one who deals with estate planning/elderly law, and ask about a durable power of attorney for both health care decisions and financial authority. Get one from each parent that names you as agent.

Get multiple originals, and make plenty of copies. Every time parent checks in a new hospital or nursing home, they likely will want a copy of the POA for their file before they will talk to you about the parent's medical care/condition. Each financial institution you deal with will do the same.

Consider asking parents to make you a signatory on their bank accounts so you can take over bill paying even without a POA. You can also consider getting parents to sign a Payable on Death (POD) for each financial account that names you (or siblings, etc.) as beneficiary. Some banks make this easy, others require more paperwork, but it's not too time consuming.

If mom is getting dementia, move ASAP. Once she loses competence, she can't execute a valid POA, will, or anything else.

Magnolia Law is in Baton Rouge.

You're behind on getting this done, but there's no better time than the present.

Talk with your parents about it first. If your mother is aware of her dementia and you can catch her at a good time, get her to go over all the accounts with you. Take copious notes and have her add you to all of the accounts.

How is your father's memory? If he's starting to slip, it might be best to get POAs on them both as well as medical POAs (allows you to make medical decisions for them if they cannot do so on their own).

While you're at it, once you get things somewhat squared away, take the next step. If you have kids into their upper teens, start talking about this with them You don't need to put them on accounts or anything, but have a will drawn up with how you want assets divided then discuss it with them so that you are there to mediate any trading they may want to do.

I've seen families go through awful times because a relative passed and left things to certain people and not others with no discussions ahead of time.

Online forms will only cause you problems in Louisiana. A POA is an authentic act which require a particular form. Most notaries will not notarize an online POA, except the ones who don’t care about taking your money. Look on the Secretary of State’s website for the notary database. Find a notary around you with at least 15 years on their commission. Dementia can cause them not to notarize so get it done now.

It is not expensive. Go to an attorney and do it now while it is still possible. If their cognitive abilities get too bad it will be too late and you will really have problems.

Yes...Living Trust to avoid Probate...access to financial assets.