Michigan Laws 556.211 – Designation of agents and successor agents
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 556.211
- Agent: means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney, whether denominated an agent, attorney-in-fact, or otherwise. See Michigan Laws 556.202
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Person: means an individual or corporation, including a fiduciary of an estate or trust, a business trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Michigan Laws 556.202
- power: means a power of attorney. See Michigan Laws 556.202
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Power of attorney: means a written record that grants authority to an agent to act in 1 or more matters on behalf of the principal, whether or not the term power of attorney is used. See Michigan Laws 556.202
- Principal: means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney. See Michigan Laws 556.202
(1) A principal may designate 2 or more persons to act as coagents. Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, each coagent may exercise the authority granted in the power independently.
(2) A principal may designate 1 or more successor agents to act if an agent resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated, is not qualified to serve, or declines to serve. A principal may grant authority to designate 1 or more successor agents to an agent or other person designated by name, office, or function. Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a successor agent has the same authority as that granted to the original agent and shall not act until all of the successor agent’s predecessors under the terms of the power of attorney have resigned, died, become incapacitated, are no longer qualified to serve, or have declined to serve.
(3) Except to the extent the power provides that coagents and successor agents are liable for one another’s misconduct, an agent under a given power of attorney who does not participate in or conceal a breach of fiduciary duty committed by another agent who is or was serving under that power, including a predecessor agent under the power, is liable for the actions of the other agent only as provided in subsection (4).
(4) An agent serving under a given power of attorney that has knowledge of a breach or imminent breach of fiduciary duty by another agent who is or was serving under that power, including a predecessor agent under the power, shall notify the principal and, if the principal is incapacitated, take any action reasonably appropriate in the circumstances to safeguard the principal’s best interest. An agent that fails to notify the principal or take action as required by this subsection is liable for the reasonably foreseeable damages that could have been avoided if the agent had notified the principal or taken such action.