From The Certified Elder Law Attorney's Desk:

William W. “Bill” Erhart

Powers of Appointment: Fine Tuning Your Estate Planning

A power of appointment is the right given under a will or trust by a person known as the donor or Powergiver. The person who receives this right is called the done or the Powerholder. The Powerholder is someone who can appoint property to oneself or others. A power of appointment, as defined by Professor Jeffrey Pernell, is the right to select, within the parameters set by the Powergiver, who will receive property subject to the power. Powers of appointment have many useful functions.

The Powerholder can decide who gets certain property based upon changed circumstances. The Powerholder gets to take a second look at circumstances as they develop over the life of a trust based upon the Powergiver’s instruction. The Powergiver is almost always the Trustmaker.

Think about someone pointing a finger and saying, “I choose you and not them.” “I choose this property and not that...

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