Power of Attorney Question

[cntrygal]

Can a family member charge the estate for services provided and what is allowed, this is in regards to an estate in the state of Illinos

thanks for any help

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Can a family member charge the estate for services provided and what is allowed, this is in regards to an estate in the state of Illinos

thanks for any help

I hope so because it is a huge amount of work. My BIL is going to be the executor on his mom's estate which is going to be a nightmare. It is IL as well.

I will be interested to hear the responses.

 

[golfgal]

In our state you can charge the estate a "reasonable" fee for handling the matters of an estate. Just an FYI, a Power of Attorney is totally different then what you are talking about. You are talking about the executor of an estate. Rights for someone with Power of Attorney got away when someone dies.

 

[lsyorke]

The executor can charge for their services. The payment must be reported to the IRS as income. The amount of payment is determined by state law.

 

[walden]

Can a family member charge the estate for services provided and what is allowed, this is in regards to an estate in the state of Illinos

thanks for any help

ETA. I stand corrected. But IMO a POA should not want or expect reimbursement. Neither should an executer.

 

[cntrygal]

well here is the story, my great uncle passed away in Dec 09. The daughter of one of the 3 parties who will inherate from the estate served as "power of attorney" before he passed with out any of our knowledge, now that he has passed she has submitted a bill to the estate for her services totaling $17,000, including airline tickets to visit him once every month to six week, car rental, gas, parking fees at the airport , even her groceries while she was in town.

this is what i am trying to find out if is legal, he lived at home on his own, and even bought himself a new truck when he was 94. we asked if the dealership, questioned it and he reply not if you pay cash....


It wasnt like she was "taking care of him"

 

[Tink888]

In Illinois the executor/administrator of an estate can charge a reasonable fee for the duties associated with administering the estate. The executor would discuss it with the probate attorney, provide an accounting of what they did and the hours involved. The fee would then need to be approved (or denied) by the probate judge. The fee is taxable income for the executor.

A Power of Attorney is completely different. The person is acting as attorney-in-fact for a person still living. The power of attorney just allows the person named as attorney in fact to act on the person's behalf (conduct business, handle financial affairs, banking, transfer real estate, etc). Now, could a person named as attorney-in-fact start paying themselves for actions involved in handling the affairs of another? Technically, yes......they've been authorized by the Power of Attorney to manage the affairs of that person. However, if you suspect this is going on, you might want to speak with an attorney about. There is a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE potential for fraud and abuse here. I used to work for a law firm and have seen cases where a trusted family member or friend, with power of attorney for another, misuse and misappropriate assets until there was nothing left and the only recourse was to file a a civil action.

Power of Attorney is also very different from a Guardianship, in which case another person has been appointed by the court as guardian of an incapacitated person and handles the affairs of the incapacitated person that way. Because it's through the court, there is a system of checks and balances in place and the guardian is responsible for providing an accounting of how funds were spent.

Hope this helps.

 

[cntrygal]

we didnt get these bill until last week, and got copies of the recipts today, she is billing for travel expences back to 2006!


this is not the same person that is the executor, i expect that person to have some expences.

 

[Tink888]

well here is the story, my great uncle passed away in Dec 09. The daughter of one of the 3 parties who will inherate from the estate served as "power of attorney" before he passed with out any of our knowledge, now that he has passed she has submitted a bill to the estate for her services totaling $17,000, including airline tickets to visit him once every month to six week, car rental, gas, parking fees at the airport , even her groceries while she was in town.

this is what i am trying to find out if is legal, he lived at home on his own, and even bought himself a new truck when he was 94. we asked if the dealership, questioned it and he reply not if you pay cash....


It wasnt like she was "taking care of him"

Normally, an attorney-in-fact isn't compensated but there is nothing to stop her from submitting the bill to the estate, especially if she can show proof of time, expense and what was done along with the POA naming her as attorney-in-fact. If the executor doesn't have an issue with it, I'm not 100% sure but I would think that it would then be submitted to the probate judge for approval and the judge would make the call as to whether or not and how much she should be compensated.

 

[Tink888]

well here is the story, my great uncle passed away in Dec 09. The daughter of one of the 3 parties who will inherate from the estate served as "power of attorney" before he passed with out any of our knowledge, now that he has passed she has submitted a bill to the estate for her services totaling $17,000, including airline tickets to visit him once every month to six week, car rental, gas, parking fees at the airport , even her groceries while she was in town.

this is what i am trying to find out if is legal, he lived at home on his own, and even bought himself a new truck when he was 94. we asked if the dealership, questioned it and he reply not if you pay cash....


It wasnt like she was "taking care of him"

we didnt get these bill until last week, and got copies of the recipts today, she is billing for travel expences back to 2006!


this is not the same person that is the executor, i expect that person to have some expences.

Excessive travel expenses would be questionable IMHO. Realistically, outside of an initial trip so that she could take the POA to the banks, contact the post office to have mail sent to her, contact creditors, etc., there really is no reason she wouldn't have been able to handle his financial affairs from her place of residence. A power of attorney isn't giving another person caretaker duties, only the right to conduct business of financial matters, etc. Basically, anything your Uncle would need to sign, she had authority to sign on his behalf.

 

[JoiseyMom]

I would think no, and would think that any judge would want to know why she didn't "bill" as she went along. I think this person is being greedy and wants more then her fair share. Why would she be coming in every month to 6 weeks? If she was just visiting, then no. Was she handling POA stuff for him? If so what? And why would he have her do that, wasn't there someone that was closer? Did she offer her services and he thought ok, but never ever expected to pay a family member for that?? Lots of questions. But she can bill anyone, doesn't mean she will collect 1 red cent!

 

[Floridagal23]

well here is the story, my great uncle passed away in Dec 09. The daughter of one of the 3 parties who will inherate from the estate served as "power of attorney" before he passed with out any of our knowledge, now that he has passed she has submitted a bill to the estate for her services totaling $17,000, including airline tickets to visit him once every month to six week, car rental, gas, parking fees at the airport , even her groceries while she was in town.

this is what i am trying to find out if is legal, he lived at home on his own, and even bought himself a new truck when he was 94. we asked if the dealership, questioned it and he reply not if you pay cash....


It wasnt like she was "taking care of him"

In many states, an attorney-in-fact or agent of a grant of power under a power of an attorney is entitled to reasonable compensation. Check the state statute at the time the POA was executed. Also, the instrument itself will usually tell you if comp is permitted - if it's silent, check the statute. Most people do not provide for their agent to receive reasonable compensation because they are a beneficiary under their will - I've had clients that do, though. The NY power of attorney statute that was recently enacted now has a place where the principal can specifically permit or not permit their agent to receive reasonable comp. HTH!