Who Should I Pick to be my Agent for my POA.īecause a POA grants such broad powers to your designated agent, a great deal of care and thought should be put into choosing your agent and any successor agents.įor married couples, most people will pick his/her spouse as the first agent, and then often identify a close family member as a backup. This would defeat one of the main purposes of having the POA’s in the first place. However, if you don’t give a broad spectrum of powers to your agent and something comes up and the agent isn’t permitted to address that particular issue, then a guardianship and/or conservatorship case will need to be initiated anyways. There will be some limitations, such as not allowing your agent to take gifts back that he/she gave to you earlier, use your money for the agent’s benefit, etc. Simply put, a POA gives someone to do just about anything you could do yourself, such as open bank accounts, transfer money, pay bills, hire professionals for help, deal with lawsuits, refuse medical care, change doctors, and more.įor estate planning purposes, the whole point of having a POA (again, you should have a POA for financial decisions and one for medical decisions) is to allow someone you trust and designate to be able to immediately step in and make (just about) any and all decisions on your behalf that you could make yourself so you can avoid going to court to have a guardianship and/or conservatorship created for you. Ok, you read the simple explanation above, and you understand a POA gives someone else the power to make decisions on your behalf. So, What Exactly Does a Power of Attorney (POA) Do? If creating a power of attorney that has this type of option and/or before voluntarily putting a power of attorney into effect, you should discuss the effect of doing so with an attorney before proceeding because of how much power you will be giving to another person.įor the rest of this article, all references to a POA will be to a Durable POA. This would likely be done by executing a certification indicating your clear intent for the power of attorney to take effect. It is possible to draft a durable power of attorney to allow it to become effective prior to your incapacity. Without that language, the power of attorney will not be effective after you become incapacitated, which would defeat the entire purpose for having it. Under Arizona law, a durable power of attorney MUST contain language expressing that it can be exercised if you (aka the principal) become incapacitated and no matter how much time passes from the time you create the power of attorney. Importantly, (and where the name comes from), the power of attorney is NOT affected by your disability or incapacity. Rather, it only becomes effective once you become incapacitated. In contrast, a durable power of attorney wouldn’t take effect right away. That type of power of attorney would typically be effective immediately or on a designated date in the near future, and then terminate on a designated date (such as the date you plan on returning from your vacation). What is a “Durable” Power of Attorney?Ī “durable” power of attorney is a term that explains when the power of attorney kicks in and how long it lasts, in essence.įor example, you might execute a specific power of attorney for a friend or family member to make certain decisions for your children in case of emergency when you go away for an extended vacation. A power of attorney is a legal document you can create/sign to give another person (known as the agent) the ability to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf.
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