Answer

My father had a serious stroke this past January and I'm trying to help my mom handle her financial affairs. Apparently, my father has a credit card that requires an annual fee. We would like to cancel this account. However, I heard that there is a proper way to cancel an account so that it does not adversely affect your credit rating. Will a letter from the Power of Attorney cancelling this account be sufficient and protect the credit rating of my parents?

All you need to do is write a letter to the creditor and request that the account be closed and reported as "closed at customer request" I'm not a lawyer but I think your power of attorney should be valid. Explain about your father's stroke in your letter so they know why you are invoking the power to act on his behalf. Then check his credit file in a few months to make sure that your request was honored. You can get one free credit report a year from each major credit bureau as a New Jersey resident.