Being sentenced to prison does not eliminate a person’s financial responsibilities. Rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, loan payments, and taxes all continue to be owed, even though the convicted person loses direct access to his or her bank accounts and the means to pay the bills. The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown in 2020.

Q: What happens when a newly sentenced convict is imprisoned for a long term with no time to organize his or her financial affairs? Who needs to do what and when, especially if no one is already assigned power of attorney or the agent designated in a power of attorney declines to serve?

A: Being sentenced to prison does not eliminate a person’s financial responsibilities. Rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, loan payments, and taxes all continue to be owed, even though the convicted person loses direct access to his or her bank accounts and the means to pay the bills.

Creditors,........

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