Search Results: POA

Many times, a family member, or even a lawyer, or neighbor, may file for Florida guardianship when one is not necessary. If you are the person who someone thinks needs a guardian, or if you are a family member, wife or spouse, or adult child, of someone who is accused of being incompetent, you have rights. You can try to stop the guardianship. How do you stop a person who filed for guardianship? There are three ways to stop a guardianship in Florida. First, you can, perhaps, object to standing. Standing is often described by Florida guardianship lawyers as the legal ability to come into court and be heard. The right to participate in a lawsuit. You or I can’t go to a court and start arguing points of law, in say, some patent infringement case about a Silicon Valley company. Why? Because we live in Florida, and have absolutely nothing to do with some patent infringement case in California. There’s no connection. The same holds true for probate litigation in Florida. A person down the street, or at the Greyhound bus terminal, just can’t, on their own, come into court and claim that you need a guardian. There has to be some connection, or nexus, to filing for guardianship in a Florida probate court. The person who files has be “interested” in you or your welfare. If they don’t have a connection to you, you can ask that the petition for guardianship be dismissed for lack of standing. Who […]

The most dangerous document in the world. Mistake: not realizing how powerful, and corruptible, a POA can be. People abuse POAs and take your money. It happens more often than you could ever imagine. I can’t tell you how many calls we get from prospective clients suggesting that a power of attorney document has been misused. This is why – just like guardianship litigation – power of attorney litigation is almost a sub-specialty of probate litigation. In case you didn’t know it already, let me say it for you now: people who claim to be your friends or relatives misuse powers of attorney. Your power of attorney, regarding your property and your money. They use and abuse your power of attorney to sign deeds, to change your beneficiaries, to withdraw money from your bank accounts, to put their names on your financial accounts, and to take your money and property. In Florida, we refer to these actions as “financial exploitation” or “financial abuse.” There are very strict civil penalties – and also criminal penalties – for financial exploitation of the elderly. When someone misuses a power of attorney, they may be responsible for damages and attorneys fees for having committed civil theft or conversion. Triple damages or punitive damag.es may be awarded, under certain circumstances. In addition, these financial exploiters who improperly take your money also break our criminal laws, which can land them in jail. Still, they continue to pop up, time and again, and there appears to be no […]

Guardianship wars Planning for incapacity and the money grab. Mistake: not believing that you will need assistance one day, or that your kids will want to have you declared incompetent, or fight with your spouse over who controls you and your money It used to be that your family only fought over your money when you died. Often this was in the limo, on the way to bury you. And then they would continue to fight, through direct – and perhaps nasty – letters from lawyers. And, finally – they’d battle it out in trial and appellate courts. That’s all changed. Guardianship litigation is a growth field. Your kids, or others, are no longer waiting until you to die before trying to stake a claim to your money and property. In the process, they’re trying to control you and your money, and may be fighting your spouse over control as well. It goes something like this… Your basic estate plan – a will, a revocable trust – has been in place for some time now and you named your latest spouse as your POA and guardian. You have two adult children from a first marriage, which ended years ago. They don’t live near you. They also don’t call often…except to ask for money. And they don’t really remember your birthday or spend holidays with you often, either. You have a falling out with one of your children. You cut that child out of an inheritance by changing your estate plan. […]

In this section from his book, “Pankauski’s Probate Litigation: Top 10 Estate Mistakes Revealed”, John Pankauski explains what is included in a “simple” estate plan. Estate Planning 101: So – what do you need in your “simple” estate plan? A Will Often referred to as a “Last Will,” a will disposes of any property, which doesn’t “go” by way of trust or beneficiary designation, or other “will substitutes,” such as joint bank accounts. A will also appoints the person you choose to “run” your estate, or who should be in charge of the probate process when you pass – a so-called “executor” of the estate, sometimes referred to as a “personal representative” or even the “executor of the will.” When you change your will, you can revoke prior wills and create – or write and sign – a new will, or you can simply amend your will by a codicil. Today, with the now widely-accepted use of a revocable trust, most wills are “simple” or “pour over wills.” They don’t typically leave any inheritances other than to give everything to, or pour over any estate assets into, one’s revocable trust. Revocable Trust (AKA: “Living Trust” or “Revocable Living Trust”) Also called a living trust or a revocable living trust, this can manage your property during your life – such as when you are incapacitated, or if you didn’t want to manage your property any more – as well as at your death. The revocable trust is “change-able.” It may be amended […]

Estate Planning Basics |The Dirty Truth About Estate Planning In this section from his book, “Pankauski’s Probate Litigation: Top 10 Estate Mistakes Revealed”, John Pankauski explains why taking the time to plan your estate as soon as possible can be extremely beneficial in the long term. Mistake: spending oodles and oodles of cash to get a“top notch,” “state of the art,” high dollar, big ticket, e-plan. A will, a revocable trust, POA (Power of Attorney), and a set of health care and guardianship documents will work just fine. They also let you keep your money and control – as best as you can. The real challenge is determining whether you care about what happens to your money when you’re gone and, if so, how you set up your estate plan, to manage and distribute that money. This is all about wealth administration after you’re no longer around. Who needs complex or sophisticated estate planning any more? For 99% of Americans, a trumped-up, complex estate plan with lots of bells and whistles – or large legal bills from your probate lawyer – is totally unnecessary. The truth is that each American can give away $5.4 Million completely free of the dreaded US estate tax, so often feared, hated, and written about with unbridled despair. That’s right – in one sense, the US estate tax does not apply to most Americans – the vast majority of us can avoid it fairly easily. The days of needing complex estate plans, or sophisticated tax planning […]

Powers of attorney are incredibly useful documents, which allow an individual to delegate decision-making to another. Durable powers of attorney are a common component to a Florida estate plan. However, a POA can also be the most “dangerous” document in the world. Why? Because sometimes bad people do bad things with a durable power of attorney in Florida and take money. You mean that people who are the power of attorney steal money in Florida? Sadly, the answer is “yes.” Just ask any Florida guardianship attorney or probate litigator. Many times, a senior citizen or elderly person who may have dementia ,or need a guardianship, is taken advantage of by one who gets a power of attorney. Yes, while a power of attorney document is an important part of your estate plan, when a POA is in the wrong hands, Florida probate litigation law firms have witnessed civil theft, financial exploitation and elder financial abuse. Family members have experienced loss of money, bank accounts and real estate when a power of attorney falls into the wrong hands. How can a Florida legal document be so good and possible dangerous or bad at the same time? POA’s can be mis-used and abused, and used fraudulently. Bad powers of attorney engage in acts of self-dealing, when they are really supposed to serve the person they agreed to help. A power of attorney in Florida is a fiduciary who is supposed to use the POA only for the purpose of helping the person […]

Are Florida Powers of Attorney the Most Dangerous Documents in the World? Ask any Florida estate planning attorney, and they will tell you that a power of attorney, or “POA“, is a standard document that they write for their clients. From Boca Raton to Palm Beach, from Miami-Dade to Martin County and all across the Sunshine State, everyone seems to have a power of attorney just like a Last Will and Revocable Trust. In fact, these power of attorney documents are so important that the Florida legislature created an entirely new law on powers of attorney. You can read all about POA’s in Chapter 709 of the Florida Statutes. Powers of attorney can help you with a limited, focused matter, like giving someone the power to sell your Florida real estate or file your tax returns. Durable powers of attorney, however, can be much broader and powerful with great authority, such as to help you protect and manage your property when you can’t, such as when you are incapacitated or incompetent. That’s why many guardianship lawyers in Florida want to know, right away, whether someone has a POA when there is a guardianship filed against them. Having a power of attorney may mean that you don’t need a guardianship. But, powers of attorney are the source of some probate litigation in Florida . Why? Because sometimes relatives, neighbors, or even 2nd or 3rd spouses, or adult step-children, mis-use Florida powers of attorney. How does someone mis-use a POA? Well first […]

What do Florida probate lawyers need to know about drafting  power of attorneys? Do you understand the difference between a durable power of attorney and a standard POA in Florida? Estate lawyers in Florida may want to read up one the recent POA drama surrounding Sumner Redstone and his $70 million dollar inheritance.

Can you object to a Florida revocable trust while the trust creator is alive? Or, you could ask the question a different way:  in Florida trust litigation, when can you file a trust contest or trust challenge about a revocable trust or living trust?  Must you wait until the creator of the trust dies, or can you attack a living trust or an amendment during the creator’s life? 

Florida guardianship lawyers have had an increasing amount of work over the past 10 years or so. Why? Well perhaps more adult children or 2nd and 3rd spouses are seeking to control or protect someone with the help of the probate courts.  Other probate lawyers Palm Beach might say that adult children and 2nd and 3rd wives and husbands are just more litigious about money and inheritances and the use, or mis-use, of someone’s money as they age, and perhaps get frail or suffer fromdementia.  What costs can a family-member-turned-guardian recover?  Here are some points to consider before you expect to be reimbursed for travel or other expenses which you, as guardian, claim to be spending for your parent’s benefit.