Brooke Astor:
The prosecution rested its case against son Anthony Marshall and his defense is now putting on their case. Recall that this is a case where the son is being accused of fraud and larceny for trying to take almost 60 million from Brooke Astor, by way of changes to her will , back in 2004. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2000 and she died two years ago at 105.
I don't feel qualified to comment on this criminal trial other than to note certain estate issues that arise. Apparently Brooke's grandsons, one of whom originally started the investigation into his father's care of his grandmother after finding his grandmother living in very poor conditions in spite of her great wealth, stands to lose if the State wins. It seems Marshall Astor entered into a divorce decree with his first wife, the mother of the sons, and agreed that he could not disinherit his sons from the Astor wealth if he ever received it. In other words, if Marshal gets Brooke's money, then upon Marshall's death, it then has to go to his sons. Considering it was the sons that started the domino effect that lead to the prosecution, and even served as witnesses to the prosecution, this finding must be giving them mixed feelings. Of course if the prosecution can prove its case that Marshall Astor either tricked his mom into signing the changed will, or as suggested, forged her signature all together, the the subsequent fight over the inheritance will be a short lived battle in Act II of this family drama that is slated to start when the criminal trial has ended.
Sidenote: who do you think stands to gain the most from proving the change to the will in 2004 was fraud or forced? New York Charities. Several of them. They stand to gain millions in an economy where donations are way down. The charities are the remainder beneficiaries and certainly will not be acting very charitable when the criminal trial ends and the challenge to Marshall's inheritance begins.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Arizona Republic Article on Powers of Attorney
This was in Sundays paper, August 2, 2009, in the Ask Steve column.
The question that was asked in his colum was a follow-up to a health care power of attorney article he ran previously. This one was about the financial power of attorney.
I have discussed financial powers of attorney before. Since I find these very important documents while the person is alive, which is the only time you can use it, I would like to touch on the topic again.
In the article, Mr. Sanghi discusses how financial powers of attorney can be durable or non-durable. Durable means the agent can still use the power of attorney after the person who created it becomes incapacitated. From my perspective, I cannot think of a better situation when you want a power of attorney than those times when you are unable to handle your own affairs. Don't get me wrong, a non-durable power of attorney does have an occasional benefit. For example, you need someone to represent you now for a one time only occurrence.
The other point raised in the article, and I like this as well, is what we call a "springing power of attorney." Let me first explain what this means then discuss circumstance of the use. A "springing" document means in this situation that there is some occurrence that causes the power of attorney to kick in, or "spring" into effect. For powers of attorney this is almost always upon doctors' orders that the principal that created the document is now incapacitated. Until then, the agent has no authority to act on his or her behalf. From my experience, I rarely see the benefit of letting someone have so much control and access to our financial affairs until we are unable to handle it ourselves. Of course if a person is just unable to handle his or her affairs, but is not necessarily "incapacitated", he or she can always create a power of attorney to apply immediately upon its execution.
My best,
Jim
The question that was asked in his colum was a follow-up to a health care power of attorney article he ran previously. This one was about the financial power of attorney.
I have discussed financial powers of attorney before. Since I find these very important documents while the person is alive, which is the only time you can use it, I would like to touch on the topic again.
In the article, Mr. Sanghi discusses how financial powers of attorney can be durable or non-durable. Durable means the agent can still use the power of attorney after the person who created it becomes incapacitated. From my perspective, I cannot think of a better situation when you want a power of attorney than those times when you are unable to handle your own affairs. Don't get me wrong, a non-durable power of attorney does have an occasional benefit. For example, you need someone to represent you now for a one time only occurrence.
The other point raised in the article, and I like this as well, is what we call a "springing power of attorney." Let me first explain what this means then discuss circumstance of the use. A "springing" document means in this situation that there is some occurrence that causes the power of attorney to kick in, or "spring" into effect. For powers of attorney this is almost always upon doctors' orders that the principal that created the document is now incapacitated. Until then, the agent has no authority to act on his or her behalf. From my experience, I rarely see the benefit of letting someone have so much control and access to our financial affairs until we are unable to handle it ourselves. Of course if a person is just unable to handle his or her affairs, but is not necessarily "incapacitated", he or she can always create a power of attorney to apply immediately upon its execution.
My best,
Jim
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