Fiduciary Duties of Agent

Although the decedent’s daughter denied acting as agent for her father under the power of attorney for which she had signed an agent’s acknowledgement, she was found to have acted as agent, and to have fiduciary duties to her father, based on the checks and other documents she had signed, and the testimony of third parties who had received copies of the power of attorney and would not have provided information to her about her father’s affairs without the power of attorney. The daughter therefore had a duty to account and was surcharged for transactions for which she did not provide explanations or receipts. There was also a presumption of undue influence with respect to beneficiary designations in favor of the daughter and the daughter failed to rebut that presumption. Garrison Estate, Principal, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 109 (Montgomery O.C. 2022).

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Comments are closed.