What Disqualifies Someone from Service as an Agent under Power of Attorney?
As part of an estate plan, your planning attorney will help you put together a power of attorney. This is a document that names the person you want to take care of all of your financial and legal dealings if you are ever unable to speak or act on your own behalf. When you choose your power of attorney agent, you should know that you are not tied to that person indefinitely. You can make a change, and there are some instances where changing your power of attorney might be a good idea.
What is a Power of Attorney?
A power of attorney is a legal arrangement between you and someone you choose to represent you if you are ever unable to speak for yourself. The durable power of attorney is the most popular and it is used in every state in the country.
Who can be my Power of Attorney Agent?
Anyone you choose can be your power of attorney agent. There are no laws in Florida that prevent anyone from being named as a power of attorney agent for any reason.
While you can choose anyone you want to be your agent, you should be careful in who you choose. In recent years, financial institutions in Florida and other states have been reluctant to recognize a power of attorney for a variety of reasons. You should choose someone who has a clean record and is fiscally responsible to be your agent if you want your financial institutions to respond to requests from your agent after you have become incapacitated.
Can Someone be Disqualified from Being an Agent?
Since the state of Florida has no hard laws about qualifying to be an agent, there are also no ways in which the state can disqualify an agent during the application period. However, if the Florida probate court feels that the agent you have chosen is not acting in your best interests, the court can remove your agent and install a new one.
Can I Remove my Agent?
You have the right, at any point in time and for any reason, to remove your power of attorney agent and replace them. You do not need to cite a reason for the change, but you do have to get the change submitted to the probate court by your attorney to be official.
The Mattar Firm’s passionate estate planning attorneys can help you with your power of attorney needs. We recommend that you give us a call to make an appointment to discuss putting a power of attorney agent in place before you become incapacitated. If you have no agent in place when you are unable to speak for yourself, the probate court will assign someone. To avoid that, you need to have one of our attorneys create a durable power of attorney for you as soon as possible.