Scott James Golightly’s Answers

It sounds as though your son may lack the capacity to appoint an agent in a power of attorney. In such a case, the court will have to appoint a guardian or conservator for him. In my state (VA), this is done by court petition. You can contact the court where your son lives and ask about this process. You may be better off discussing your matter with an estate planning attorney. Best regards, Scott J. Golightly

Either the POA itself or your state law will provide a means by which you may resign as agent. No one can be compelled to serve against his or her will. Usually written notice to the principal is sufficient, but you should check with a lawyer to be sure. The bigger issue may be who is going to help in your mother's time of need? Based upon your facts, she may have capacity issues that could prevent her from executing a new POA. Absent one of those, or your continued service as agent, a...

If the will was probated when your father passed away, a copy should be recorded in the will book in the court located in Phoenix. State laws do vary, but probate usually occurs in the court where a deceased person had their last residence. I'm not sure how cities and/or counties are set up in AZ. Depending on the nature of your father's assets when he passed, his will may not have been probated. Probate usually only deals with things a person owns in his or her own name alone. If your...

If the will was probated, the clerk of the court where your late father was living when he passed away should have the will on file. The probate process requires the will be recorded for notice purposes. You should be able to call the clerk's office and learn about that. If the will was not probated, the court won't have a copy of it. In that case, you may never find it. If you can learn the name of the lawyer that drafted it, perhaps you may call him or her to see if they can provide...

In VA, all discovery requests must be "reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence." Your question does not have a lot of detail, but it seems strange to me to ask one party about another party's responses to discovery. Perhaps I don't understand the context. If you're not careful, you will likely get an objection from the party to whom you are requesting this new discovery. If you asked my client about nothing more than his reaction to another party's discovery, I...

In my experience, it is best that you go to court. Even if you have no defense, the judge may take it lightly on you in light of your clean record. Clean driving records often carry a lot of weight. I would recommend that you call the court (general district court) and talk to one of the clerks about your situation. Be extra nice. Clerks often give the best advice about these things. On the other hand, if you just pay the ticket, that amounts to a finding of guilty as charged, which may...

If probate has indeed been closed, then the executor has no more authority. He or she is done. It sounds like the 3 of you are tenants in common, each with an undivided 1/3 interest in the property. So, EACH of you will need to agree on the handling of the property. That is, to sell it, all of you will have to sign the deed of sale. If there is an unwilling sib, those wanting to sell may need to pay him or her some money to cash them out of this asset. If that does not work, and 2...

If the defendant disputes the debt, the judge almost always orders "pleadings." For the plaintiff, the pleading is called a "bill of particulars." The defendant has several different responses available -- usually a "grounds of defense." If the bill of particulars is insufficient in some way, it's the defendant's job to point that out in the responsive pleading. There is really no automatic dismissal of a bill of particulars for failure to provide proper documentation. As for settling,...

What are you trying to accomplish? In my state (VA), living trusts are generally NOT recorded in the courthouse unless there is a real estate transaction involved. I suspect you may be dealing with some real estate issue, and the court is requiring additional documentation to clear up a title issue. If you post a follow up question with more detail on your goal, that may help you get a better answer. Scott J. Golightly www.golightlylaw.com

Whether the agent has authority to change a beneficiary designation is likely to be spelled out in the POA itself. If that power is not expressly spelled out, the agent may have a hard time making this change. You can call the bank with the CD. Explain your concern. This will put them on notice of a potential issue, which may keep them from making any change on their own. Banks are very conservative. If a change is made to this CD, you may be able to challenge it in court. Doing so,...