Kirby Puckett, Powers of Attorney and Gifting

I previously blogged about litigation in the estate of Buddha-bellied Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett here. According to this article, Mr. Puckett's ex-wife (Tonya Puckett) is now attempting to have the executor of Mr. Puckett's estate, Brian Woods, removed from his post. Ms. Puckett claims that Mr. Woods "is no longer qualified to manage the estate because he has a 'significant and irreconcilable conflict of interest' stemming from his role in the money transfer and statements he made about taking care of Puckett's fiancee, Jodi Olson."

She alleged that Woods told her in the hours before Kirby Puckett died that Olson was not named in the will and that she needed to "be taken care of, and that $1 million to $1.5 million needed to be given to her."

...

The petition also alleges that on the day Puckett died, his longtime agent, Ron Shapiro, acting under a power of attorney, transferred money from Puckett's account to Olson's.

The petition said the "gift" was "a clear violation" of Arizona law. Woods "was effectively an accomplice," it said, because he was aware of the transfer and did nothing to stop it or, later, recover the money.

[Mrs. Puckett's attorney] said Tuesday that the transfer was made even though William Brody, a Minneapolis attorney representing Woods, advised Shapiro before the transfer that such a transaction was not authorized by the power of attorney agreement.

The question of whether an agent under a power of attorney can make gifts on behalf of the principal -- either directly or by changing the principal's estate plan -- has always been an important one.

In Illinois, the statutory form for a power of attorney for property includes a long list of powers granted to the agent, but doesn't include the power to make gifts. I typically include such a power if my client wants it.

The above article mentions Arizona law -- I assume that Mr. Puckett executed an Arizona power of attorney for property. However, it doesn't appear to me that Arizona has a statutory form for this document, so the question of whether the gift was a "clear violation" of Arizona law depends on the specific language of the power of attorney Mr. Puckett executed.