POWER OF ATTORNEY: A successor agent is not a fiduciary until succession is effective. An Illinois intermediate appellate court in In re Estate of Shelton, 60 N.E.3d 121 (Ill. App. Ct. 2016), affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of an action alleging that the successor agent under a power of attorney breached the agent’s fiduciary duties owed the principal because until the successor becomes the agent, no duties arise and the certification of the incompetency of the original agent which would trigger the succession was not made until after the alleged breach.
Special thanks to William LaPiana (Professor of Law, New York Law School) for bringing this case to my attention.
