How to Choose Your Financial Agents

You want your financial agent, the Attorney-in-Fact under your General Durable Power of Attorney, Trustee of your Trust, and Personal Representative of your Estate (formerly called Executor for a man or Executrix for a woman) to have the following characteristics & skills:

• a legal adult
  • although 18 years old is the threshold for legal adulthood, this is a a lot of responsibility, especially for someone who has not yet had experience managing more significant personal assets
  • you may wish to choose someone who has at least a few years experience independently managing personal household finances
  • if this person will be managing your child’s assets, this should not be that child
  • ⚠️ it is often not good for sibling relationships to put one sibling in charge of another sibling’s assets – depending on the circumstances, you may wish to consider another person to better preserve the sibling relationship as such
• trustworthy & responsible
  • especially with money but also respectful of your privacy as this person will have access to all your bank statements, credit card statements, and other private financial information
  • ⚠️ do not name someone who has a relatively recent history of mismanaging money
• cooperative and willing to work with and follow the advice of professional advisors to do things “by the book,” properly, so your plan works in practice as intended
  • ⚠️ do not name people who often think they know better and are resistant to advice of professionals
  • we have seen too often where well-intentioned relatives have completely blown the estate planning objectives by doing things on their own or refusing to follow professional guidance
• excellent follow-through
  • ⚠️ do not name someone who tends to “freeze” under pressure or procrastinate on getting even urgent & important tasks accomplished
• basic understanding of foundational financial terms and a basic financial literacy 
  • or at least the humility to hire professional advisors and follow their advice about managing various financial responsibilities
  • it is not necessary to have a background in finance but it is important to understand the difference between a mortgage and a 401k and the like
• tech-comfy
  • although it is certainly not necessary, in this day and age it is faster and easier for people to manage these responsibilities if they are relatively comfortable with routine online tasks including:
  • email
  • e-signing documents
  • scanning documents
  • downloading and uploading documents securely online
  • meeting remotely by video conference
• choose one person, then choose one or more backups!
  • clients often ask us, “Should I name two executors of my Will?” or “Can’t I name both of my children to serve as my Power of Attorney together?”
    • we recommend you do not name two people to serve jointly as your Personal Representative (formerly called Executor or Executrix) nor as Attorney-in-Fact under your General Durable Power of Attorney
    • that creates an administrative burden, slowing things down and tending to increase fees
  • it’s much easier to coordinator meetings & calls & arrange for signatures & communicate with just one person
  • of course someone else can help the person doing the job and if they’re close they almost certainly will, but don’t require it
  • Watch Danielle explain this here.