Word: laws
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...State of New York. New legislation that went into effect Sept. 1 - in the form of a radically changed power-of-attorney (POA) document - couldn't have come at a better time. "Financial abuse is one of the fastest growing areas of elder abuse," says Andrea Lowenthal, an elder-law and estate-planning attorney in New York. "Older people are a growing segment of society and are among the most vulnerable, often because of their misplaced trust." But if seniors are the prey, then they often choose their predators - people they've empowered to act on their behalf, as agents...
...power of attorney has teeth," says Ronald Fatoullah, an elder-law and estate-planning attorney in New York. One safeguard is a multiplicity of signatures. Now both the principal and the agent must sign the POA, and each signature must be notarized. "This is a big change," he says. "The document specifically states that when you accept the authority to act as agent, you create a special fiduciary relationship with the principal that imposes legal responsibilities until you resign or the power of attorney is terminated." (Read "The Real Issues of End-of-Life Care...
...like a trusted accountant, to oversee the activities of an inexperienced agent, or a family member to ensure that an agent acts according to the principal's wishes. Those who have POA must now keep records and account for every penny, which was not a requirement under the previous law, says Louis Pierro, an elder-law and estate-planning attorney in New York, adding, "The new law makes it easier to bring a civil suit against an agent who has acted inappropriately...
...law goes even further when addressing gift-giving. In the past, it was relatively easy for people expecting to be named as agents to slip into the POA a self-serving gift-giving provision. Because these write-ins would often be overlooked by the principal, it was possible for agents to write checks to benefit themselves and clean out a principal's bank account. Now such doings will be harder to get away with. If the principal wants to grant the agent the specific power to make gifts, the principal must initial a box on the POA authorization form...
...keep that from happening again, Karzai will need to show results - and fast. For starters, Afghans say he must dismiss corrupt officials, enforce law and order, and use foreign-aid money to build the roads, dams, bridges and schools that he and the international community have long promised but never delivered. This would win back many Afghans and stall the Taliban's advance. But it won't be easy. To secure victory in the recent election, the President had to indebt himself to the very warlords who are strangling the country with their greed...