Choosing The Right Agent For Your Power Of Attorney In Florida

Creating a power of attorney is vital to ensure that someone can take care of your financial or medical decisions when you cannot. Nevertheless, it also involves a great deal of trust as you will be giving them a great deal of power. This article discusses how Florida residents can go about choosing their power of attorney agent(s), including:

• The risks associated with an untrustworthy power of attorney agent.
• The qualities you should look for in an ideal power of attorney agent.
• How and why you might want to choose multiple agents for your Florida power of attorney.

What Is A Power Of Attorney, And What Role Does The Agent Play?

A power of attorney document gives a specific individual the right and ability to make decisions on your behalf. This could be a general power of attorney for all financial decisions and transitions or a highly specific power of attorney that only gives the agent a specific task they can accomplish.

In either case, the authority given is considerable, so you need to be careful who you empower with any powers of attorney you create.

What Are The Risks Of Somebody Choosing An Untrustworthy Agent?

If you choose an untrustworthy or unreliable agent, that agent may take advantage of you and your situation. They might transfer assets to themselves or just act in direct contradiction to your wishes. Less dramatic problems can include not keeping proper records, which can make it hard to see how they are managing your money or even cause conflicts with family members later.

What Quality Should I Look For In A Power Of Attorney Agent?

Obviously, one of the main things that you should consider when choosing an agent for your power of attorney is finding someone you have a lot of faith and trust in. Someone you can be confident has your best interests, and those of your loved ones, at heart.

In addition, it can be important to choose someone who is responsible and organized; someone who is good with their finances obviously makes a better candidate for handling yours than someone who is disorganized or financially irresponsible.

Attorney Myrna Serrano Setty is an experienced and compassionate estate planning, probate, trust and elder law attorney in Florida. Through estate planning she has helped many individuals and couples protect their assets, legacies and find peace of mind.

Preparing a power of attorney or any other part of your estate plan? Start by calling The Law Firm Of Myrna Serrano Setty, P.A. today to schedule a Discovery Call.

Can I Appoint Multiple Agents? Is That Recommended Or Not Recommended?

It is absolutely possible to appoint more than one agent for your power of attorney, either as a shared responsibility or as a backup if the primary person is unavailable or also incapacitated. Under Florida law, you are able to appoint multiple agents if you want to and under the setup you desire. Whether or not that is a good idea depends on your specific circumstances.

Is It Possible To Change Your Agent Later If Circumstances Change?

It is possible to update your power of attorney and update the agents you have chosen. Doing so can be vitally important if your circumstances or relationship with the person change. Nothing is worse for a family than realizing that the ex spouse is now in control of their finances!

What Happens If My Agent Becomes Incapacitated?

If your agent becomes incapacitated, then the next agent that you had named in the document to serve after them will be able to serve, which is why assigning backup agents is usually a good idea.

Why Can Signing Over A Power Of Attorney Be So Emotionally Complicated?

Over the years, I have had clients come to me with concerns about the amount of power that is being given to their agent under power of attorney. Understandably, it can be uncomfortable to give someone that much authority and some see it as losing their own power in the process.

Fortunately, I have no trouble taking the time to talk about the power of attorney and explaining how it actually works if you are worried about it. In reality, you are not losing any power at all; you are just sharing that power with someone else and can dictate the circumstances in which they can use it.

As a result of those conversations, many clients who were worried would be ready to execute a power of attorney, and I am happy to help them set it up and choose an appropriate agent.

Have You Set Up A Power Of Attorney? Are You Struggling To Pick An Agent?

For more information on Choosing The Right Agent For Power Of Attorney, a Discovery Call is your next best step. We provide that Discovery Call prior to booking a free initial consultation. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (813) 686-7175 today.