Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Acting As Agent Under A Financial Durable Power Of Attorney: An Unscripted Role, Carolyn L. Dessin

Carolyn L. Dessin

The financial durable power of attorney, also known as a durable power of attorney for property management, is a creature of fairly recent origin. The estate planning bar created it to provide an effective alternative to guardianship or conservatorship proceedings when people become incompetent or incapacitated. Additionally, there was a sentiment that the wealthy had an effective way of dealing with potential disability by creating a funded inter vivos trust, and that such a device was not available to most individuals because of the prohibitive cost. Since its creation, the financial durable power of attorney has become an extremely popular …

The Troubled Relationship Of Will Contracts And Spousal Protection: Time For An Amicable Separation, Carolyn L. Dessin

Carolyn L. Dessin

We live in a society with rapidly changing familial norms. Statistics show that one out of every two marriages ends in divorce, and even higher divorce rates are projected. The number of people who remarry following a divorce also is increasing.

Much has been written about the effect of the changing family patterns on estate planning. In the era when having only one spouse and one set of children was the norm, it was fairly simple to develop a rational system for dividing the person's estate among spouse and children. In recent decades, however, the growing number of multiple marriages …