Some of the biggest fights arise from people who say yes to anything in the name of avoiding conflict. They are, in fact, creating the most fertile ground for a fight.
One growing source of conflict is when a parent with many adult children keeps signing new powers of attorney documents when asked to by their children. As each child visits their parent, they would take them to a lawyer to sign documents. Or worse, bring a document they printed off the internet for them to sign. People who always say yes, inevitably sign documents to please the person who asked them, without realizing it angers everyone else in the family and creates legal and practical headaches for everyone.
What you get a is a mess of documents that no bank has the time or patience to understand. In some cases, they simply freeze the account(s) because they don’t want to be involved in the fight. That leads inevitably leads to trouble with paying bills and day-to-day financial management.
Likewise, no healthcare provider ever wants to get involved in multiple sets of care directives executed within days or weeks of each other. They are bombarded with requests to exclude family members from visitation or phone calls. The result it the people pleaser is isolated and has angered the very people they wanted to please.
All of this is good news for estate litigation lawyers. The competing legal documents generates ample work for those skilled in this area of the law. However, the money, support and family bonds are completed eroded at the end of a person’s life when they arguably need all of these things the most.
In many cases, conflict avoiders are the author’s of their own misfortune.
