November 17, 2021

The selection of a power of attorney agent is an important one because this person is responsible for acting on your behalf and in your best interests, but what happens if the power of attorney agent doesn’t act at all? Sometimes an agent might be unable to handle decisions for you because they are sick themselves.

In other cases, they do not want to handle the decisions. If an agent does take the action, however, they have to act in your best interests and in line with the power of attorney for property that was drafted by you. It’s always a good idea to speak with your power of attorney agent when you begin to craft this document to make sure they clearly understand their responsibilities and what is expected of them.

This is also a good opportunity if your power of attorney agent to voice their concerns over disinterest in acting. It can be difficult to be named as someone else’s power of attorney agent when you’re unclear of this role or do not realize what it entails until you are appointed. At that point the agent is put in a difficult situation of trying to act in the best interests of their loved one.

Make sure that you schedule a time to speak with a dedicated estate planning lawyer to think carefully about who you should name as your power of attorney agent and to schedule a separate time with that agent to walk through the potential responsibilities and expectations.