Powers of Attorney- Part 4

Who to Serve?

One of the most important decisions in creating a power of attorney is the selection of an agent. One's agent should be an individual who is responsible, generally organized and trustworthy. You can name one agent to serve at a time or name two or more individuals to serve simultaneously. It is also important to name successor agents. I once spoke with a 70 year old man who was serving as agent for his 96 year old father. His father was no longer able to make business decisions and no longer had the capacity to execute legal documents. The son was named as the sole agent under his father's durable power of attorney (there was no successor). The son was beginning to contemplate his own health and mortality and was concerned about who would care for things should something happen to him. Unfortunately, as there was no successor named, the power of attorney would fail should something happen to the son. If you do not have an adequate number of successors named in your durable power of attorney, consider updating your document while you still can.