In the news you may have noticed that Congressman Aaron Schock resigned amid controversy of misspending. From remodeling his office to match the hit show “Downton Abbey”or fromcharging taxpayers for 170,000 miles on his car when politico reported that it was sold by him with only 80,000 miles. Not to mention his famous instagram. Now I am sure you are asking what does this have to do with Florida Probate? Well Congressman Schock was theyoungest congressman ever, sworn in at age 27. Maybe his follies can help you make some reconsiderations in appointing Personal Representative’s and Trustees.
Here is the breakdown of what these two things have in common:
- Who you pick as a trustee or personal representative matters.
- You have to create strong rules of accounting in your trust.
- Your relatives deserve the high standard that Schock claims he held himself too, and that can only happen with a plan.
Dont see the connection consider the following:
- elected at 27 Congressman Schock was given, or entrusted with taking care of the people of the 18th District of Illinois, that is pretty similar to how you appoint a Personal Representative to watch over your estate or a trustee to look over your trust. In choosing who will take over this responsibility keep in mind you can say I only want my son if he is over the age of 30, that way if he is 18 when you pass, he wont be eligible even though he is eligible under Florida law. Age and maturity are important in choosing any type of a trustee.
- Misspendings were hard to account for in this case and they could be even harder for your trust where everything is not public record. Most of the misspending of Congressman Schock was not really fraud per se such as taking his staffers to Katy Perry concerts on tax payers dimes or recreating his office. The fraud was not actionable until it was quantified by the mileage some comedians have suggested the guy drove in reverse for 90,000 miles so maybe hes still out of hot water? Who knows. The point is just liek the american people you need to set up rules of accounting that will show these kind of abuses.
- In his resignation speech Congressman Schock claimed the constant questions after this scandal broke, I thought it was funny he says his actions did not breach that before. But any Palm Beach Probate attorney worth their weight in salt will tell you a high standard is important. Expect the best of your estate plan to prevent fighting in your family that is expensive, eliminating the value of your estate.