What Can We Learn From Margaret Brent’s Legal Prowess?

A story from the 17th Century! Margaret Brent was approximately thirty-seven years old when she arrived in Maryland in 1638. At Governor Leonard Calvert’s deathbed in 1647, Margaret was appointed his executrix (love that word) to manage not only his estate but also Maryland’s affairs and was instructed to “Take all and pay all”.

Key Insights:

• Historical Significance: Explore Margaret Brent’s pivotal role in managing Maryland’s affairs during a critical period in colonial history.
• Legal Acumen: Learn how Margaret Brent navigated complex legal situations, such as managing estates and negotiating with Lord Baltimore.

An educated and resourceful woman, Margaret averted a disaster by having the assembly transfer to her, Leonard Calvert’s power of attorney for his brother Lord Baltimore (who resided in the UK). Because Leonard Calvert’s estate was not sufficient, she sold some of Lord Baltimore’s cattle to pay the soldiers and stop them from revolting to ensure the survival of the settlement. Lord Baltimore, when he found out about the sale, was not very happy that his cattle was sold, and forced Margaret out of the settlement. She and her family resided in Virginia where she died around 1671. Margaret very likely saved the colony from violent mutiny and is known as a significant founding settler in the early histories of the colonies of Maryland and Virginia.

So, what can we learn from the first woman in the English North American colonies to appear before a court of common law?

Exploring Power of Attorney:

• Delve into the transferability of power of attorney (PoA) powers, as seen in Margaret Brent’s case.
• Understand the limitations of PoA today, where appointments are non-transferrable, and backups must be explicitly designated in the document.

The answer is Heck No! Our 2023 power of attorney (POA) appointments are non-transferrable. The POA is given by the Principal to the Agent, and the Agent does not have the right to transfer that power to anyone else, not even at their death. The PoA document itself should identify a backup should the named backup dies. If no backup Agent is on the document, well the Principal no longer has a POA Agent.

Now, we sometimes do specifically give appointment powers in a POA document where the Agent may change the terms of a Principal’s last will or trust, but that needs to be called out specifically in the POA to be effective.

So, there you have it. We learn that it’s super cool to be a notable woman in American history and that we cannot transfer our POA powers to anyone other than the folks nominated in the POA document.