Legal News

A few weeks ago, a topic came up in a consultation that I see often enough to know it deserves its own conversation: what happens when the people closest to you do not have the legal authority you assume they have when it comes to your funeral. Here are two situations I see regularly. They look different on the surface, but they come from the same gap in planning. Situation One: Two Children, One Decision, No Majority A widow has two adult children. She never named a funeral

In New Jersey, if a particular power is not expressly granted in your power of attorney, your agent simply does not have it, and the consequences in a long- term care crisis can be severe. Most people assume that naming someone as their “power of attorney” or by saying their agent has the authority to act “generally” it means that the person named can handle anything on their behalf. It sounds absolute. It isn’t. Under New Jersey law, a power of attorney grants only the power