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A power of attorney is used to delegate legal power to another person. The main (anyone granting the power of attorney) gives the agent, also known as the attorney-in-fact, the authority to make appropriate conclusions on his/her behalf, including handling bank accounts, real estate, and other assets.

The possibility of fraud exists in every power of attorney design, through self working, embezzlement, and illegitimate gifting. In certain circumstances, an electric of attorney holder can dramatically lessen a house, making the heirs of the principal with little if any inheritance. Alternative methods in which a power of attorney could be abused contain changing beneficiary designations on life insurance or annuities, and opening bank accounts with joint name or pay on death provisions in favor of the agent.

The creation of an electrical of attorney may be pushed underneath the grounds of insufficient capacity or that the creation did not follow proper procedures. In case a validly given power of attorney has been abused by the agent, grounds might exist to sue the agent for the get back of embezzled home or for monetary damages. The agent can be sued by the principal directly, if the principal continues to be living at the time of the motion. In many circumstances, the power of attorney abuse is part of a broader sample of elder abuse. If the principal has died by the time the ability of attorney punishment has been identified, the principal's estate or the intended beneficiaries of the house might be able to sue the agent for breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with estate planning, or a number of other causes of action.

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Due to the prospect of abuse with an electrical of attorney, their use must certanly be limited. The instrument will be left by many persons creating a power of attorney with the drafting attorney until the circumstances triggering the activation of the power have already been triggered, such as for instance the inability of the primary.