Minnesota Court Suspends Attorney for Advising Client to Violate POA While Conducting Medicaid Planning

R.G. had power of attorney over his elderly brother. The power of attorney prohibited R.G. from making gifts to himself from his brother’s estate. R.G. hired attorney Donald Fett to help with his brother’s Medicaid planning.

Contrary to the terms of the power of attorney, Fett informed R.G. that he should transfer assets from his brother’s account to a separate account created for R.G. The state of Minnesota charged Fett with professional misconduct.

In In Re Petition for Disciplinary Action Against Fett (Minn., No. A09-1862, Nov. 24, 2010), the Supreme Court of Minnesota ordered a public reprimand and one year probation for Fett. The court found that Fett owed an obligation to R.G. to provide him “with sufficient information so that R.G. could participate intelligently in the decision whether to transfer assets to himself, and an explanation of the means by which Fett believed self-gifting was possible, in light of the power of attorney’s prohibition on self-dealing.”

Attorney Suspended for Advising Client to Violate POA in Order to Conduct Medicaid Planning, ElderLawAnswers, Nov. 29, 2010.