A Delaware Court of Chancery vice chancellor has affirmed a master’s report concluding power of attorney for an incapacitated individual starts upon the execution of such an agreement, not when the individual becomes incapacitated. The court’s decision required the son of a du Pont heir to provide a forensic accounting of all transactions conducted on his mother’s behalf upon the execution of a power of attorney agreement.
“A power of attorney becomes effective when accepted by the attorney-in-fact, explicitly or implicitly; it is sufficient evidence of acceptance that the attorney-in-fact exercises the power granted by the power of attorney,” said Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III in IMO: The Estate of Paulina du Pont Dean.
