NC Fiduciary Litigation Attorney, Kirk Sanders, victory on behalf of his octogenarian client made NC Lawyers Weekly’s Top 25 Verdicts & Settlements for 2015. NC Lawyers Weekly Top 25 Verdicts & Settlements of 2015
This was a case where an octogenarian’s child wiped out all his accounts, valued at $1,000,000 and deeded all his property to herself as a life estate remainderman. The lawsuit filed by Sanders alleged power of attorney embezzlement, POA misappropriation, POA misuse of funds, and breach of fiduciary duty. Mr. Sanders and co-counsel, Bryan Thompson, worked together with Sanders handling the litigation, temporary restraining order, and injunction matters, while Thompson headed up negotiations. The client recovered more than $1,500,000 in assets.
Power of attorney documents are extremely helpful to handle a person’s assets, Unfortunately, the POA’s are such powerful documents that they make persons susceptible to fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement, self-dealing transactions. POA’s should be selected with care. They should be required to report on a regular basis to another, independent person from the POA. If they don’t report, there should be mechanisms for removing the POA. POA’s should keep all records, including bank statements, tax returns, checks, receipts, to demonstrate their maintenance of their fiduciary duty.
The key to these cases is fiduciary duty. The breach of a fiduciary duty occurs when the Power of Attorney agent fails to act in the best interest of the principal.
Other Power of Attorney cases & Fiduciary Litigation cases involve breach of the prudent investor rule. The prudent investor rule requires the agent or trustee or POA to make sure the principal’s money is invested wisely and with care. By example, a 90 year old person with $1,000,000 should not be invested in penny stocks or highly volatile stocks. At that age and that amount of net worth, preservation of assets is the general rule. Note: In no way is this intended to be investment advice. It is an example of a general rule.
Kirk Sanders has handled power of attorney abuse cases in NC for more than a decade. He also handles Trust Violations, Will Contests (Will Caveats).
Call 336-723-7200 if you or a family member have a POA Abuse Matter in North Carolina.
NC Fiduciary Litigation Attorney