[WSBAPT] Compensation for Financial Power of attorney ?

[Heather Kolbly]

Hi All,

 

Financial agent (holding a financial durable power of attorney) for a
terminally ill client of mine called me and said he is putting a lot of
hours into his work as financial agent (5-6 a week) in visits to client,
paying client’s bills and managing client’s estate.   Financial agent said
this is more work than he expected, and that he would like to have fair
compensation for his time and effort on behalf of client.  The financial
POA document states:

 

 

“Limitations.   No economic benefit shall be conferred upon the
Attorney-in- Fact, directly or indirectly, as a result of the
Attorney-in-Fact’s possession of the foregoing powers.  The power
exercisable in favor of an Attorney-in-Fact shall be limited to the extent
that such benefit is necessary for the maintenance, education, health, and
support of the Attorney-in-Fact as described in RCW 11.95.100, Sections
2041 and 2514 of the Internal Revenue Code, and the regulations
thereunder.”

 

I have researched the RCW and IRS code sections referenced, and it appears
that the financial agent can only use client’s funds for agent’s
maintenance, education, health, and support…. First, am I
reading/understanding this correctly?  Second, does this mean, then, that
the financial agent can pay himself a reasonable hourly fee for the work
he is doing for client?  It seems wrong not to allow people holding
financial POA to be compensated for their time and effort, but I also see
the potential for abuse of an incapacitated person’s funds.

 

Thanks for shedding any light you can on this for me,

 

Heather Kolbly

 

 

Kolbly Law Firm, P.C.

peace of mind through planning

Wills  - Trusts - Powers of Attorney - Medical Directives 

Prenuptial/Postnuptial Agreements 

Small Business Law - Contracts - HOA Representation - Guardian ad Litem

 

Heather Tobin Kolbly

Attorney and Counselor at Law

Mail:  704 228th Ave. NE #122, Sammamish, WA  98074

Office:  (425) 522-4234 s Cell:  (425) 444-1888 

 <mailto:Heather at KolblyLaw.com> Heather at KolblyLaw.com

 <http://www.kolblylaw.com/> www.KolblyLaw.com

 

Hours:  By appointment only, including evenings and weekends.

                             

Housecalls and "workcalls" are our specialty!

 

Speaking engagements:  I am happy to come to your office, club, church,
neighborhood or other gathering FREE OF CHARGE to provide information on
the uses of estate plan documents (Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney,
Advance Healthcare Directives, Community Property Agreements, and
Declarations Regarding Organ Donation and  Disposition of Remains) and
answer any questions.

 

CONFIDENTIALITY: This e-mail and its attachments are confidential and may
be protected by attorney/client privilege, work product doctrine, or other
nondisclosure protection. If you are not the intended recipient of this
e-mail, please contact the sender immediately; you may not read, disclose,
print, copy, store or disseminate the e-mail or any attachments or any
information contained therein.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with new requirements of
the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that, to the extent any advice
relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication,
including any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and
cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties
that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue
Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any
transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

 

=======================
- To contact the list administrator, send a message to:
webmaster at wsbarppt.com

- To unsubscribe, send a new email addressed to:
imail at listserv.nethelps.com, with the message: unsubscribe wsbapt - OR -
send a message to webmaster at wsbarppt.com asking that you be removed from
the list.

Information provided on this list should not be considered legal advice.
As with all lists - let the reader beware! No warranties or
representations are made as to the accuracy of any information provided.
All opinions and comments in this message represent the views of the
author and do not necessarily have the endorsement of the Washington State
Bar Association nor its officers or agents. 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 9026 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20140114/62b21110/winmail.dat>