Am I Too Young for an Estate Plan or Long Term Care Plan? Part 2
In my blog post last week I talked about a scenario we are seeing with increasing frequency. We have had a number of what we call crisis calls relating to a family member who has experienced a sudden onset of injury or illness causing the need for long term care -
Financial Elder Abuse Legislation – Part 2
In my post last week, I wrote about a type of financial fraud targeting the elderly that caught the attention of two New Jersey legislators. In two cases that were reported upon by the media, a man working with a nursing home convinced 2 seniors to sign powers of attorney appointing
Why It Pays to Have a Carefully Drafted POA – Part 2
In my post last week I told you about a call we received from a family member serving as agent under power of attorney (POA) for a client of ours. The son had been refused access to his mother’s individual retirement account (IRA) account because the bank claimed that the POA did
Why You Need a Carefully Drafted POA (Part 1)
In this week’s blog post I want to talk about a call we received from a family member of a client whose power of attorney we prepared about 12 years ago. The son who called was acting as agent for his mother and needed to access her IRA account. The bank where
If I Move to Another State Do I Need to Update my Documents?
It’s a common question we get from clients who intend to move out of New Jersey. We also get calls from people moving to New Jersey who want us to review estate planning documents prepared in another state. These documents may include wills, powers of attorney, health care directives and trusts. Do these
Longtime Partners but Never Married (Part 3)
In this 3rd post on longtime partners living together but never married, Bill needed long term care and Mary was concerned about how to pay for it and at the same time be able to afford her own living expenses. As I explained last week, the house they lived in and
The Power of the Power of Attorney – Part 2
In my post last week, I wrote about 2 recent calls from former clients of ours that highlight the importance of a power of attorney. Our power of attorney is very detailed and designed to cover as many different situations as possible - even though as I always say that as to any one
The Power of the Power of Attorney – Part 1
Two recent calls to our office highlight once again the importance of the power of attorney - a deceptively simple document that can be obtained off the internet but which, if it is to be at all useful, must be carefully tailored and specific to the anticipated tasks that the agent may be called
What to do if a Bank Refuses to Honor Your Power of Attorney
2 years ago I wrote about bank and other financial institutions' resistance to powers of attorney (POAs). Since then we have seen an increase in frequency of these issues so it bears revisiting some of the common problems and solutions. When we draft POAs for clients we tell them to
What Exactly am I Authorized to Do with a POA? Part 2
In last week’s blog post I started talking about the different types of powers of attorney. While it is important to have a power of attorney in place it is equally important to understand what it covers – what powers it confers upon the agent.