It was just one year ago, September 2009, that New York instituted sweeping changes to its financial Power of Attorney ("PoA") law. Many of those changes were valuable and well received, by both clients and their advisors attorneys. Unfortunately, the new PoA form was complex and unwieldy, and had certain provisions that were either unclear or potentially troublesome. Since the law was brand new, there was little guidance from the legislature or the courts as to its exact interpretation or implementation, which left estate planning attorneys more than a little concerned as to how our clients would be affected. To address some of these concerns New York State has recently enacted a revision to the September 2009 Power of Attorney law, effective September 12, 2010.
Amongst the various "technical corrections" made by the new law are three important changes/clarifications:
- Signing the default Power of Attorney form no longer automatically revokes all prior PoAs
- The provisions of the new Power of Attorney law explicitly exempts business or commercial PoAs (including certain real estate deals, corporate matters and hedge fund transactions) from its terms
- Without a separately signed Statutory Gifts Rider (formally called the Statutory Major Gifts Rider), the named agent is limited to giving away no more than $500 total in gifts per year (the prior law was unclear if the $500 limit was an aggregate or "per person.")
The provisions of the new PoA law are retroactive to September 2009, and do not invalidate PoAs signed since then. However, the "old" PoA form (from 9/09) can no longer be signed after 9/12/10 and new forms have been issued.
As always, I invite you to contact me if you have any questions about the applicability of this new law to your personal situation
All the best,
Joe Donlon
The
estate planning law firm of Donlon & Associates, PC provides high quality, focused legal counsel to clients all ages and wealth levels in the following areas:
Wills & Trusts
Asset Protection Planning
Estate Tax Planning
Elder Law
Special Needs Trusts
Probate & Estate Administration
Donlon & Associates, PC serves clients throughout New York City and Long Island, including Nassau County, Suffolk County, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
