By selecting the correct financial manager for yourself at death or disability, you can head off many of the common family feuds that follow such events.
A daughter has some problems, as her siblings are hurt by her parent’s estate-planning intentions.
Failing to have any plan is setting the table for controversies and fights.
Families can grow together with brothers and sisters under the same roof. As time goes by and aging parents must make tough decisions, things can get difficult with feuds developing. An estate planning attorney can help the family through these difficult times. According to a Faribault Daily News article, “Attorney can smooth path for families making legal plans,”
The article tells of a reader who faced a problem with siblings when the parents wanted to create a power of attorney for health and care ‘decisions. The difficulties came from siblings who live far away but feel as if they are not included in their parents. For this particular family, one sibling lives 500 miles away, and another lives 800 miles in the opposite direction. The one daughter who lives in the same community is the logical choice for power of attorney. What can be done?
The parent’s foresight in selecting a financial manager and updating their estate plan and related legal documents is congratulated. The one adult child who lives in their community is the best choice for power of attorney for medical and financial decisions so they can quickly handle an emergency situation.
The parents have assigned the other two adult children as secondary POAs, and everyone has already been informed that they will all receive equal shares in the estate. The out-of-town siblings should be happy at how fairly and expeditiously their parents are taking care of in these matters.
Adults need someone named to handle health care and financial decisions if they become incapacitated and need someone else to make decisions. Having a POA puts others in place to take over any tasks. Having a secondary POA designates someone to step in if the primary cannot act.
When someone chooses a financial manager because they don’t want to hurt feelings, the result is often disastrous. It’s important to pick the most competent and trustworthy candidate.
Some states also allow what is known as a “co-agent” so that decisions are made together. However, in an emergency, if the other person is not immediately present and time is an issue, this can lead to critical situations being unresolved.
One way to soften this kind of situation is to have the entire family meet with the estate planning attorney in a family meeting. Decisions can be explained by a professional not emotionally tied to the family dynamics, and cooler heads may prevail.
An estate planning attorney can advise you on creating an estate plan that fits your unique circumstances and helps smooth over family issues, if necessary. We spend the time in consultations helping to weigh out these choices.
Reference: Faribault Daily News (August 28, 2018) “Attorney can smooth path for families making legal plans”
