Considerations When Designating Others To Act On Your Behalf
Ideally, Estate Plans are updated every few years or when major life events occur. However, realistically, many will go decades without updating their Estate Plan. As such, when you are designating someone to act on your behalf –whether it be a personal representative, attorney-in-fact, guardian, health care surrogate or trustee— you will want to ensure your designations stand the test of time.
When you are choosing who you want to designate, there are practical and legal considerations you should keep in mind.
One of the biggest considerations—which is both a practical and legal consideration— is the age of the person you are designating. Legally, your designee must be at least eighteen (18) years old. An ideal designee is old enough and with enough life experience to competently handle whatever you have designated them for, but young enough that they will not predecease you.
Other characteristics you should consider are whether the potential designee is: levelheaded, trustworthy, and savvy or sophisticated (remember, they may be dealing with financial, medical, or legal professionals). It may also be more practical for your designee to be located near you rather than far away. You may also want to consider their values and whether they are aligned with yours since they will be acting on your behalf; this is particularly important for the persons you designate as guardians.
Finally, you may also want to choose someone who is uncontroversial and unifying. Those characteristics can help minimize the risk of the designee creating unnecessary conflict or friction doing an already-difficult time for you and your loved ones.
In addition to the practical considerations there are also legal considerations you must keep in mind. One example of a legal requirement is persons convicted of a felony. Persons convicted of a felony are disqualified from serving as personal representatives of an estate or trustee of a trust. There are other legal requirements that may come into play depending on who you are designating and what you are designating them as. It is important to contact a legal professional to ensure your designees are not automatically disqualified from serving in their designated capacity.
Above are a few examples of considerations you may want to keep in mind. There are many other practical and legal considerations. Characteristics to consider are not a one-size-fits-all and what may be ideal or available for one family, may be less than ideal for another. Finally, what makes an ideal designee may change based on time and/or unexpected life events.
Here at Brett Legal, we would be happy to help you create or modify an Estate Plan and guide you so that you can designate the person(s) best suited for you and your family’s needs.
-Silvia A. Brett, Esq.
Silvia Brett is an attorney located in St. Petersburg, FL, who handles Estate Planning and Probate. Click here for more information.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. The content may not reflect the most current legal developments, and it is not guaranteed to be complete or up-to-date. The information on this blog should not be taken as legal advice for any specific case or situation. You should not act or refrain from acting based on any content included in this blog without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. The author expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all the contents of this blog. If you have any questions about your legal rights or obligations, you should consult an attorney.
