Estate Planning: What is a Power of Attorney?

Posted by Mords1944 on September 1st, 2019

A power of attorney is a document where you can authorize anyone to act on your behalf. This means that he is considered the "principal" and the person to whom he assigns power is his "agent" or "power of attorney". Your lawyer doesn't have to be a lawyer, but you have to be someone that you have a lot of trust in.

A power of attorney may be of a general or limited nature. You can decide how much power the designated person will have as your "lawyer" over your affairs. Having something like this configured for you does not prevent you from doing these things on your own, but rather shares these tasks with another person. A general power of attorney may authorize your agent to conduct all your business and affairs, while a limited power of attorney may authorize your agent to perform only specific actions or make certain decisions on your behalf.

"Durable" is another term to describe this type of legal power that can be assigned to anyone. A general power of attorney expires if a person becomes disabled and unable to make his or her own decisions. On the contrary, when the assigned power is recorded as "durable", its power remains valid, even if a person becomes incompetent or incompetent. If you become incompetent and have not prepared a lasting power of attorney for finance, a legal proceeding for guardianship is likely. Your spouse, relatives or close friends will have to ask the court for a decision that cannot handle their own affairs and ask the judge to appoint a conservator to handle them for you. Having this in place guarantees that someone can take care of your assets and pay your bills in the event of a sudden illness or injury, and will also relieve the burden of your loved ones.