Acting as Agent under a Financial Durable Power of Attorney: An Unscripted Role

This article examines the history and uses of the financial durable power of attorney and compares it to the alternative property management approaches of guardianship and trust creation. It then discusses the general lack of definition of the role of the agent under the financial durable power of attorney and problems that this lack of definition has begun to cause. Finally, it proposes a role for agents that comports with the purposes underlying the creation of financial durable powers of attorney and the public’s expectations about how such powers will operate.