In Estate of Carpenter v. Dinneen, 2007 WL 1114082 (Del. Ch., April 11, 2007), read opinion here, the Chancery Court examined the fiduciary duties of a person who held a Power of Attorney (POA) for her elderly mother, and how those duties could be limited by contract (i.e., by the POA itself.) This case involves a wealthy member of the DuPont family who died last year, and claims by her estate against several of her longtime "personal employees" who allege, in their counterclaims, that the decedent promised them certain benefits in exchange for their continuing employment. In the course of deciding various competing motions, the court addressed whether someone holding a POA can tortiously interfere with contractual relations if the person for whom they are an agent is a party to the contract (i.e., can someone who is a party to the contract tortiously interfere with it). The court also addressed whether an oral agreement can be enforced against a decedent (or her estate) when an oral promise to give a testamentary gift allegedly was made but when that bequest was not part of the decedent’s formal written Will. (Answer: maybe–it depends.)