Denver Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Prior to the 2017 Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (TCJA) these administrative expenses generally fell into the miscellaneous itemized deduction bucket. The TCJA suspended miscellaneous deductions until Jan. 1, 2026. This had created uncertainty about whether an estate, a non-grantor trust or an individual beneficiary could still claim them in the interim.

In July, the IRS issued a notice clarifying its position on the topic. Estates and non-grantor trusts will still be able to deduct these expenses. A beneficiary, however, might not be able to deduct them after termination of an estate or trust.

On October 26, The Denver Post published an article about the petition Bill Bowlen had just filed in Arapahoe County District Court asking the court to review the actions of three agents appointed to act on his brother Pat Bowlen’s behalf pursuant to a power of attorney. As is well known in Colorado, Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Broncos, suffers from severe Alzheimer’s disease. 

The Post attached a copy of the court petition to the online article.

In the past week, we have talked about the power of attorney as a component of your estate plan, including what to look for in choosing your agent and his or her legal duties. Today, we will discuss the kinds of powers and responsibilities you can delegate to your agent using your power of attorney. 

The beauty of a POA is that you can craft it to transfer whatever powers you choose. For example, you could execute a POA just for one transaction such as to have the agent act for you at a real estate closing or manage one asset.

At Chayet & Danzo, LLC, we sit down with Colorado clients to learn about their concerns and goals for financial security during their lives and the financial protection of their loved ones now and into the future. Under Colorado law, many estate planning tools exist to help our clients meet those goals. Today we will talk about one of them: the financial power of attorney. 

A financial power of attorney, sometimes referred to as a POA, is a legal document that you (called the principal) can execute to give another person (called the agent or attorney-in-fact) the authority and responsibility to handle your financial affairs.