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Durable Powers of Attorney Are Important But Dangerous

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Danger - Power of Attorney

APRIL 26, 2010  VOLUME 17, NUMBER 14
A power of attorney is one of the most important, powerful and dangerous documents you will ever sign. Why is it important? Because your family has no inherent right or power to handle your finances in the event that you become incapacitated. Why is it dangerous? Because it is literally a license to steal.

Of course the agent named in your durable power of attorney is not supposed to steal from you. In fact, he or she can go to jail for doing so. But the whole point of the power of attorney is to make it easier for someone to handle your finances without court oversight, and without having to answer to banks or others. Too often agents abuse those powers of attorney.

So why is it important for you to sign a power of attorney? Because the alternative is, for most people, even more disturbing. Your family members and even your most trusted advisers are not able to handle your bank accounts, pay your bills, buy or sell property or protect against abuses by others — unless you have given them authority to do so in an appropriate document. That usually means a power of attorney.

There are alternatives, of course. You could create a living trust, name a successor trustee and transfer your assets into the trust. That may make it a little bit easier for your successor to handle your assets, but it does not provide any additional protection. You could simply add a trusted person to the title on each of your accounts — but that provides even fewer safeguards, and exposes your property to claims leveled against the now-joint owner of your assets.

Or you could simply hope never to need anyone to act on your behalf. Then when someone needs to act they will have to go through the process of securing a conservatorship over your estate (what some states call a guardianship of your estate). That provides better protection, but perhaps at a greater cost than you want to incur — and it means the court, rather than your family member or trusted adviser, having the ultimate authority.

That is why almost everyone we counsel ends up signing a durable power of attorney. That is also why it is so critical to make sure you have selected your agent carefully, warned them about the limitations on their authority, and provided them enough information so that they can act appropriately.

Want to know more about durable powers of attorney? Check out our new White Paper on durable powers, prepared by us for our friend and colleague Slade V. Dukes, Program Fellow for the Stetson University College of Law‘s Elder Consumer Protection Program. While there look at our White Papers on other topics, too, including Estate Planning, Guardianship and Long Term Care Planning.

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Robert B. Fleming

Attorney

Robert Fleming is a Fellow of both the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He has been certified as a Specialist in Estate and Trust Law by the State Bar of Arizona‘s Board of Legal Specialization, and he is also a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Robert has a long history of involvement in local, state and national organizations. He is most proud of his instrumental involvement in the Special Needs Alliance, the premier national organization for lawyers dealing with special needs trusts and planning.

Robert has two adult children, two young grandchildren and a wife of over fifty years. He is devoted to all of them. He is also very fond of Rosalind Franklin (his office companion corgi), and his homebound cat Muninn. He just likes people, their pets and their stories.

Elizabeth N.R. Friman

Attorney

Elizabeth Noble Rollings Friman is a principal and licensed fiduciary at Fleming & Curti, PLC. Elizabeth enjoys estate planning and helping families navigate trust and probate administrations. She is passionate about the fiduciary work that she performs as a trustee, personal representative, guardian, and conservator. Elizabeth works with CPAs, financial professionals, case managers, and medical providers to tailor solutions to complex family challenges. Elizabeth is often called upon to serve as a neutral party so that families can avoid protracted legal conflict. Elizabeth relies on the expertise of her team at Fleming & Curti, and as the Firm approaches its third decade, she is proud of the culture of care and consideration that the Firm embodies. Finding workable solutions to sensitive and complex family challenges is something that Elizabeth and the Fleming & Curti team do well.

Amy F. Matheson

Attorney

Amy Farrell Matheson has worked as an attorney at Fleming & Curti since 2006. A member of the Southern Arizona Estate Planning Council, she is primarily responsible for estate planning and probate matters.

Amy graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in political science and English. She is an honors graduate of Suffolk University Law School and has been admitted to practice in Arizona, Massachusetts, New York, and the District of Columbia.

Prior to joining Fleming & Curti, Amy worked for American Public Television in Boston, and with the international trade group at White & Case, LLP, in Washington, D.C.

Amy’s husband, Tom, is an astronomer at NOIRLab and the Head of Time Domain Services, whose main project is ANTARES. Sadly, this does not involve actual time travel. Amy’s twin daughters are high school students; Finn, her Irish Red and White Setter, remains a puppy at heart.

Famous people's wills

Matthew M. Mansour

Attorney

Matthew is a law clerk who recently earned his law degree from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. His undergraduate degree is in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Matthew has had a passion for advocacy in the Tucson community since his time as a law student representative in the Workers’ Rights Clinic. He also has worked in both the Pima County Attorney’s Office and the Pima County Public Defender’s Office. He enjoys playing basketball, caring for his cat, and listening to audiobooks narrated by the authors.