(Gen power of Att.) change will to living trust
I have General Power of Attorney for my older sister who is now completely mentally and physically incapacitated. With this legal standing can I create a new will or living trust for her? I want to name her 21 year old daughter as her sole beneficiary of her life insurance policy. (Her present will names her ex-husband.)
Re: (Gen power of Att.) change will to living trust
If your power of attorney is a durable power of attorney, properly drafted and executed according to law, and provides you with authority to create a trust for her benefit, then yes, you can do so. You do not say what her mental capacity is today (does she know who she is, where she is, what her assets are and who are her heirs, can she articulate that she wants the daughter to get her estate and you do not say if you have a durable power of attorney. If the POA is not durable, and she is incapacitated, then you have no legal authority to do anything, the POA ceases to be of any force or effect the moment she became incapacitated, and you cannot create a trust. You cannot create a Will for someone who is incapacitated. Legal capacity is different to create a Will or POA, than capacity to make a contract or other action. If the POA is valid now, then you could change the beneficiary of the life insurance policy by filling out the form provided by the insurance company.
Donald Scher
Donald T. Scher & Associates, P.C.
2200 E. Camelback Rd., #102
Phoenix, AZ 85255