Southern Business Journal contributing writer Richard Habiger discusses two important court cases involving the power of estate planning documents.

In the first instance, limitations were placed on the power to change estate planning documents. The case involved two attorneys - attorney Lawrence Patterson, who was hired to draft estate documents, and attorney Timothy McJoynt, who requested that Patterson "remove his name from the documents" requiring his presence and approval to any changes to the original estate documents. Patterson refused to honor McJoynt's request withou first meeting with his clients first. In their judgment, "the appellate court noted that the elderly are often taken advantage of and the provisions in question were tailored to reduce undue influence."

In another Florida case, a bank refused a son's Power of Attorney when he tried to transfer his father's funds from a joint account to an account in just his father's name. the son was suspicious of some withdrawal's and with the Power of Attorney saught to protect his father's assets. The father's joint account was held with a friend, who was notified of the son's attempt to transfer money. The joint account holder refused the transfer and emptied the account. The sum in question was $65,000. The bank was sued for not upholding the Power of Attorney, and the court agreed that the bank had not acted reasonably.

Both of these cases are positive steps in the growing protections for the elderly and the power of estate planning documetns. Read the whole article here.

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