Powers of Attorney (“POA”) are wonderful documents to have as part of a person’s estate planning. When a person is unable to take care of financial and property matters for themselves, the power of attorney is recorded in the county of the principal’s residence. Then the designated agent can handle the specified powers described in the POA.
However, designating a trusted and knowledgeable POA agent is the most important choice a person can make. The wrong agent may misappropriate (nice way of saying ‘steal’) the principal’s assets. Other times, the agent may simply make poor financial decisions without good advice. Typically, though, the misappropriation is more prevalent. This happens all the time, every day, in your community.
There are ways to protect against abuse.
If abuse has occurred, Kirk Sanders has handled lawsuits and recovered stolen assets, including cases where more than $100,000 was recovered from the former power of attorney.