I am going to probate Court today on an interesting case. It’s not something you see every day.  There is a conservatorship of the person but not the estate.  My lead conservatorship attorney, Jennifer Rouse, opted to skip the conservatorship of the estate to save on costs.

The financial matters are mostly done through the trust. However, some assets (an annuity and also social security payments) are not owned by the trust and thus the power of attorney is being used for a lot of financial matters. Remember trusts have no say-so when the assets are not owned by the trust. A conservatorship of the estate is one option but it’s costly to set up and maintain; plus it’s very restrictive. A power of attorney is more flexible and definitely cheaper to administer.

Today I am appearing in Court for approval of a combined trust/power of attorney accounting among other issues.

It’s important to remember that there are different ways to solve a problem so make sure you have a creative attorney.