This past week, my daughter tried to teach me how to ride an electric scooter. I thought I was doing a pretty good job pretending to have fun, trailing behind my teenage daughter. 

Death Readiness Dispatch

April 8, 2026

Hi there,

 

This past week, my daughter tried to teach me how to ride an electric scooter. I thought I was doing a pretty good job pretending to have fun, trailing behind my teenage daughter. 

 

Then she doubled back and said, “Do you want to go into this parking lot and practice for a bit?”

I said, “No, I think I’m okay.” Then I paused. “Wait… am I too slow?”

And she said, very honestly, “Yes. You’re way too slow.”

 

Trying to do something new while pretending you already know what you’re doing… doesn’t work. But that’s exactly what I see happening all the time when people say yes to serving as an executor, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney. They say yes because they care, they want to help and it feels like the right thing to do. But they don’t always understand what they just agreed to.

This week’s Tuesday Triage question flips the usual perspective. Instead of focusing on the person creating the document, we’re talking about the person being asked to serve.

 

Serving as an agent under a power of attorney isn’t a symbolic role. It’s a real job. And in this episode, I walk through five questions you should ask before you say yes:

 

• How (and whether) you’re going to be paid

• When your responsibility actually begins

• Whether you can get out if needed

• What happens if something goes wrong

• And what you’re walking into on day one

 

Because “I’ll help” can quickly turn into responsibility, liability, and a lot more work than anyone expected.

When you agree to serve in a fiduciary role—agent under a power of attorney, executor, trustee—you’re taking on real responsibility.

And with that comes potential liability.

 

Even if you’re just doing someone a favor, you can be personally exposed if something goes wrong… or if someone thinks something went wrong.

This is why the document matters.

 

Before you agree to serve, consider asking for language like this to be included:

 

Here’s what that actually means: If you’re serving in a non-professional capacity, the estate—not you personally—should bear the risk, unless you’ve acted in bad faith or committed fraud. Agreeing to help shouldn’t mean putting your own personal assets on the line.

I’m picking up the printed second edition of The Death Readiness Playbook tomorrow!

If you pre-ordered it, your copy will ship Monday, April 13th. And if you’ve been thinking about it, there’s still time to get your order in and be part of that shipment.

This edition also includes a new co-branding option for professionals.

Curious what that could look like for your business?

Thanks for being here.

PS: These episodes usually start with a question someone didn’t want to ask out loud. If you’ve got one, you know where to find me.