The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Barbetti v. Stempniewicz rules that an agent under a durable power of attorney may not create a trust on behalf of a grantor if that power is not granted in the DPA document, but does not rule on whether such a trust may be created if the power is granted.

In the case of Barbetti v. Stempniewicz, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that a specific power of attorney did not allow the creation of a revocable trust, but chose not to address the question of whether such a power may be created, leaving that to the legislature to decide.