power of attorney

hello,
i am a married woman having two kids,my husband died in a road accident a year and a half ago,he used to run the business of coin box machines ,he had dealership from many companies and he used to provide servicing also.i used to have no idea about how his business runs.my husband's younger brother also have an elecronic parts business located side by side in ahmedabad.after my husband's death my brother-in -law and my husband's close friend are running the business now.my mother's place is hyderabad.i am at present staying in hyd,and pursuing MBA ,moreover i have two smaall kids whom i am cannot handle all alone(ofcourse my mother-in-lawis there but she too is a working woman and i dont get much support from my co-sister),
i want to stay in hyd,at my mother's place for 3 years till i complete mba,now my problem is my brother-in-law is asking for power of attorney in his name,he gives the reason that constantly there are so many forms(like sales tax,etc) to be signed and you are not here.
here everyone says once you give power of attorney ,nothing will be left in your hands.
moreover till now i had not known how much profit is the business making,what is the capital investment,only that i ask for some amount and he gives me that much money
he only takes all the decisions of the business and doesn't even feel like informing me
so now i want to ask to share the profit between him and me ,but he may show lesser profit or even loss
or i want to ask some rate of interest on capital,in this way my invest amout would be safe and i would be getting fixed amount irrespective of the amount of profit but that would be much low amount when compared to the actual profit
i am in a dilema what should i do,that the business doesn't go out of my hands, i get my share of income and the business is taken care of without my presence,
i want everything to be clear that i dont face any probs in future.
i really need some legal advice,anyone could give me some suggestions?what shall i do in such a situation?:confused:

Hey Sandhya,
I felt very sad after reading about your husband. Looks like you are doing all the things which you can do by Pursuing your MBA. In my opinion Power of Attorney is just a document in which you appoint your brother-in-law to act on your behalf on matters that you specify. I don't see much of a harm in doing that. As long as you have original deed with you. It depends on how much trust you have on your brother-in-law. If you don't feel comfortable doing that.. you either need to travel to that place when ever they need you or ask them to FedEx the documents which needs to be signed. Hope this helps

Take care
Tulasi

Sandhya - really sorry to hear about your husband. I have to commend you on pursuing your education under these circumstances. As for the power of attorney, I would be careful as to what it encompasses. what kind of authority are you giving - limited or broad? I am not sure about the rules in India - so, please consult with a lawyer before you sign any papers. If you have to sign a power of attorney, make sure it is very specific in terms of what the other person can act on. Good luck.

Shobana

dear Tulasi and Shobhanag,
thankyou very much for posting your thoughts as reply for my problem,you both have given contradicting views which is making me to think all the pros and cons
thanks again!

Dear Sandhya

I pray to God that he gives you the strength to complete your MBA and to take care of your kids to the best of your ability.

Regarding POA,you should consult a lawyer since legal matters will always have a lot of intricate details and you need to be aware of all that before you take any step in that direction.I have given a POA to my Dad in Chennai for my flat there and he can take a lot of decisions based on that POA.I fully trust my Dad and therefore I did not have any second thoughts on giving that POA.Similarly, my husband has given a POA to his Dad.In both these cases,since we have full faith on our Dads,it helped.But your case is slightly different.This is your BIL and further,he has kind of not involved you in the running of your husband's business till now.Because of this ,you don't know exactly what is happening there.

I would seriously ask you to consult one lawyer before going ahead on this issue for the sake of your future and your kids future.

dear sunitha,
as you said trust is an important factor here,i myself don't know to what extent i can trust my BIL.as you said i will surely consult a lawyer and take a best decision.
thank you very much for your advice

Dear Sandhya,
I agree with Sunitha and Shobhana about POA. My husband gave POA to his dad for our house dealings. The person on whose name the POA is given can act fully on our behalf unless you give restrictions in the document. So, I also suggest you to take a lawyer's advice. Also try to have more control on the business by visiting your company every now and then. All the best!
regards,