POA self-dealing liabilty
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So I had an older couple that have been clients of mine for over 20 years. They have two children. Over time, they referred me to their daughter and son-in-law. Eventually they became clients as well. The mom and dad named the daughter as their primary POA, and the son as continent POA. The mom died a few months ago. The daughter said her brother was a loser and didn’t really do much for their parents. Upon the mom’s death, the daughter changed the beneficiaries to herself, instead of naming herself and her brother.
My concern is that upon the death of her father (he’s 90), her brother will be expecting 50% of the inheritance. What would be my liability here? I certainly didn’t advise her to do this, but I was instrumental in providng the forms to settle the death claims and change the beneficiaries on all of the accounts.
If the father is lucid, how in the world did your firm allow her to change his beneficiaries? You could have some real liability because I will guarantee he is going to hit the roof and go hire an attorney. I sure as heck would. She is screwing him. The fact that you provided and processed those forms IMHO opens you to liability at least as a fiduciary.