Durable Power of Attorney Verses Successor Trustee

I have had people approach me lately, including some attorneys, who have inquired as to why it is necessary to have a power of attorney over your assets when you already have a successor trustee in a trust to manage assets when you are disabled.  My answer is very simple.  The trustee has control over what is in the trust only.  Even when you believe that all of your assets are in the name of your trustee (as many have intended), there are assets that you may acquire down the road, or that you have forgotten about, which are not yet placed into the trust and time may be needed to coordinate that.  In that time, these assets remain in your estate, separate from the trust, where a power of attorney will be needed to manage them if you are unable.
I have had people find out the hard way that assets they thought were in their trust, actually were not.  If you are uncertain about what is in your estate plan or how assets will be managed when you are unable to do so, feel free to contact Gee Law for a free consultation.