Any adult can create a Power of Attorney and specify what an agent can execute on their behalf.
For example, suppose you have trustworthy business partners or family members. In that case, you can entrust them with a Power of Attorney to share the burden of decision-making rather than doing everything on your own.
In some cases, that can be a parent granting a child this right or a business owner who can't be everything and everywhere at the same time.
A Power of Attorney is a document you can use to give another person the right to make decisions on your behalf.
The POA is mostly for making business, financial, and asset management decisions. The document can be either non-durable or durable. With the non-durable POA, the agent's role ceases should the principal become incapacitated. With a durable POA, the agent's role is unaffected by incapacity.
Choosing your agent or, also known as the attorney-in-fact, is a significant decision for any person. It is also relevant to know you can replace or revoke the agent at any time and for any reason.
Depending on your state, a Power of Attorney may also be known as:
Letter of Attorney
There are many instances when a person might require a Power of Attorney. For some, this is a document they prepare as soon as they turn 18 years old.
Older parents may also use a Power of Attorney to allow their living children to manage their properties or sign documents, in effect, taking the burden off them.
However, in most cases, you use a Power of Attorney to have someone else make financial or business transactions on your behalf. Things like buying life insurance, distributing gifts, and even employing and firing people, can be assigned to an agent.
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A Power of Attorney is a document that gives another person a lot of freedom to act in your best interests, so why not make sure everything is in order?
Let 360 Legal Forms help with our extensive library of attorney-vetted legal forms. The process is fast and easy. All you have to do is fill out our easy-to-understand questionnaire. Once complete, simply download your form as a PDF or Word document from your secure online account.
To create your document, please provide:
Principal's Personal Information: Name, address, and any other relevant personal information.
Agent's Personal Information: Name, address, and additional relevant information.
Expiration Date: You may specify an end date. Otherwise, the power expires upon the principal's death or revocation of the document, and, if the POA is non-durable, the incapacity of the principal.
Explanation of Powers: Determine each power to be granted, and the extent of the agent's authority.
State: Which state's laws would govern the agreement.
Principal: The person who is giving another person (an agent) the POA to act on their behalf.
Agent/Attorney-in-Fact: The person who receives the POA to act on behalf of the principal.
Fiduciary: Someone who must act in another entity or person's best interests.
Durable Power of Attorney: A POA that survives the Principal's incapacity.
General Power of Attorney: A POA that expires at the Principal's incapacity, that grants all the powers typically granted under a POA.
Limited Power of Attorney: A POA that expires at the Principal's incapacity, that limits the agent's scope of power by letting you choose the specific powers to grant the agent.
Springing Power of Attorney: Also known as a Conditional Power of Attorney, this becomes valid only when certain events come to fruition, typically upon the occurrence of a specific date.
The Power of Attorney has to be signed by the principal and witnessed by a notary public who will notarize the document. Some states require additional witnesses to the signing. However, some states may also require the agent to sign an acceptance of the power of attorney.
With your Power of Attorney signed and notarized, both the principal and the agent should keep for the record a notarized copy of the POA. It's only displayed when necessary, mostly on the agent carrying out his or her agency.
Once again, in certain states, you might have to file certain types of power of attorney with a court. They generally don't have to be filed with the country registry.
The essential difference between the two is that the former ends when the principal becomes incapacitated. Whereas a Durable Power of Attorney is so called because it continues at the principal’s incapacity. Both will expire upon death. However, even a Durable Power of Attorney can be revoked, such is the case if divorced spouses neglected to update the paperwork.
You can revoke any type of power of attorney in three ways. You can issue a power of attorney revocation available on 360 Legal Form and have it sent to the agent. Another option is to assign another agent to replace the current. Finally, in the event of the principal’s death the Power of Attorney is automatically revoked. For non-durable powers of attorney, the Power of Attorney is also automatically revoked upon the principal's incapacity.
An agent to your POA does not have the power to change your will or trust documents. Furthermore, an agent does not have the right to transfer their power to another person. The primary reason is that the appointed agent has a fiduciary duty towards the principal to act in their best interests. If there's a suspicion of fiduciary betrayal, a power of attorney can be challenged in court.
Many people pick their attorneys, relatives, friends, or spouses to give a POA to. Needless to say, you should only give it to trusted people who don’t have a conflict of interest.
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