Should I Have Multiple Agents for My Powers of Attorney?

A power of attorney is a legal document that allows a trusted individual, otherwise known as your agent, to make important life decisions on your behalf, should you ever become sadly incapacitated and unable to act on your own. You can incorporate multiple powers of attorney into your estate planning. Meaning, it may be in your best interest to name several agents. With that being said, please continue reading to learn whether you should have multiple agents serving you and how an experienced Putnam County power of attorney lawyer at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC can help you appoint the right individuals for this role.

Should I have multiple agents serving my powers of attorney?

Being the agent of a power of attorney comes with serious responsibilities. So, you may not want to double down on giving this burden to a single individual. Rather, it may be better for all parties involved to have a different person be responsible for separate powers of attorney.

With that in mind, though, we may advise you to avoid naming multiple agents to a single power of attorney document. While there is no legal violation when doing so, you may simply heighten the risk of conflicts of interest down the line. Rather, you may be better off appointing a primary agent and then a successor agent, who may step into this duty should the former individual ever become unwilling or unable to carry on.

What should I do before appointing someone as my agent?

With essentially leaving important life decisions in the hands of your agent, you must be diligent when appointing someone into this role. This means having an open and honest conversation with the desired individual, and fully disclose what you expect of them should the time ever come for the legal document to become effective.

In this discussion, you may realize where the individual’s strengths and weaknesses lie, and make executive decisions from here. For example, you may learn that this individual is primarily responsible for handling the money matters in their household. With this information, you may find it better to appoint them as the agent of your financial power of attorney rather than your healthcare power of attorney.

Besides your personal preferences, you must also consider New York State’s estate laws surrounding who can and cannot serve as agents of powers of attorney. Namely, you must confirm that your desired individual is at least 18 years old and is mentally competent themselves.

If you need legal representation fast, a skilled estate planning attorney in Putnam County is prepared to step up. The team at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC looks forward to meeting you, working with you, and helping you.