Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana

My Mother in Law is elderly, but is active and very cognite. She now wants to change her will, to not only name one person with Power of Attorney but two of her children as a check an balance system. There are four children and three of the four agree with her decision, the one that has current Power of Attorney will get angry, but I believe that it is always better to have two in charge, which will force the siblings to communicate before making critical decision, not only on the behalf of my Mother in Law, but on behalf of equally making decisions with their inheritance for the betterment of all family members.


Asked on 8/12/09, 8:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Nick Pizzolatto, Jr. Pizzolatto Law Office

You did not ask a question. But your mother in law can do whatever she wishes with her property, and does not have to listen to anyone. Powers of Attorney are only for the living so once she dies, there is no power to transfer to another person and any Power of Attorney existing at the time of her death immediately ends. If there is a Power of Attorney in existence at this time, all she has to do is terminate it and need not appoint a new one. However, in this setting I assume you mean she wants more than one person to administer her estate after she dies and you are not talking about a Power of Attorney. If there is enough property then that may be wise, but if not so much, she may not need to bother with an administration. Just give what she wants to each person in the will and be done with it. I assume she has no husband since you did not mention it, and he would have an interest in the community portion of the property. Spend a $100 and sit down with an attorney and he can explain everything to the lady.

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Answered on 8/18/09, 6:37 am


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