Читать книгу Powers of Attorney - Martin Shenkman - Страница 12

Hiring a lawyer will be more costly up front. The real issue to evaluate is not what it costs for a “form” but what the entire process of obtaining a power of attorney, and of someone using it if it becomes necessary to help you, will cost. The incredibly poor quality of some Internet forms is such that the costs in terms of professional fees to help an agent interpret a cryptic or inappropriate power of attorney could far exceed the cost of your having retained a lawyer and had the document prepared properly in the first place. As is true with so many things in life: “you get what you pay for.” But with a dangerously defective power of attorney, you may get a lot less than you pay for—it may cost you exponentially more to unravel a poor document.

Example: You decide to use an inexpensive Internet form. The form asks you to list powers you will give your agent. When you see the broad list of things an agent can be authorized to do, you get uncomfortable (which is a pretty natural and logical reaction). So you limit what you permit an agent to do. Years later you are in an accident and your agent needs to act for you. But when your agent contacts your broker to sell certain assets of yours to pay for your care she is informed that your power of attorney is too narrow to permit this. As a result, your agent has to hire an attorney to formally be appointed as a guardian in a costly court proceeding. How much money did you save on using the Internet form?