The New Power of Attorney Law and How It Affects You, Part 2 of 3

In my last blog, I introduced you to Florida's still relatively new Power of Attorney Law. This week, I would like to cover a couple of the risks in Power of Attorney documents and how to avoid them.
Did you know that your agent is not obligated to fulfill all of the powers granted by you in the Power of Attorney document?  This can leave areas of your affairs unattended.

For example, if you grant agent banking and investment powers, but the agent only wants to handle banking, this could leave your investments unsupervised. The solution is to put a simple reference int he document that “my agent has authority to conduct banking transactions.”  That will allows agent to conduct all of the banking transactions typical for a Power of Attorney.  You can do the same with your investment strategy.

Also, if you have a Trust established, or will be doing so, you want to make sure that the authority of your agent to amend the Trust is specifically enumerated in your Power of Attorney document and that it is  signed or initialed by you.  If the trust document itself (a separate document) does not allow for amendment by your agent, you would need to update the trust document.

The above steps will give you peace of mind when designating someone you trust to handle your financial affairs through Florida's Power of Attorney law.

If I can assist you further with your Power of Attorney or Durable Power of Attorney needs, please don't hesitate to contact me.