Stan Lee, the legendary comic book creator, died in November 2018 and his estate has been in litigation ever since.

Stan’s wife had died in July 2017 and thereafter Stan had named Jerry Olivarez, a publicist, as agent under a power of attorney. The Compliant in the probate case alleged that Jerry did several unscrupulous acts: dismissed Stan’s lawyer and hired his own without disclosing the conflict of interest; fired Stan’s banker and transferred roughly $4.6 million out of Stan’s account; duped Stan into loaning him $300,000; bought an expensive condo using Stan’s money; and more. The suit listed several causes of action, including financial abuse of an elder, fraud, and misappropriation of name and likeness. Jerry denied the allegations.

A Financial Power of Attorney (POA) is a powerful document that every senior should have in place. This document allows another person, the agent, to make financial decisions on behalf of the senior, the principal, in the event the senior cannot make their own decisions. Without this document in place, if the senior becomes incapacitated, a court process will be necessary so that the court can appoint someone to make those decisions.

When an agent acts, he steps into the shoes of the principal. But what acts can an agent do? Well, that depends upon the powers given in the document. Can an agent create a trust on behalf of the principal? Does the POA need to contain certain language for that act to be allowed?

As folks age, they oftentimes become unable to manage their affairs. A court can name someone to handle these affairs on the senior’s behalf. A guardian is appointed to make personal or healthcare decisions; a conservator is appointed to make financial decisions. The senior is termed the “ward.” That guardian and conservator (oftentimes the same individual) are then responsible to handle the ward’s affairs, in the ward’s best interests. But how far can the conservator go? Can a conservator sue the ward’s spouse for support and maintenance? This issue was recently litigated in South Carolina.