Power Of Attorney Definition
A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives someone else the authority to act on your behalf. The person who creates the POA is called the ‘principal,’ while the person chosen to act on the principal’s behalf is called the ‘agent’ or ‘attorney-in-fact.’
There are two types of Powers of Attorney: general and special. A general POA gives the agent broad powers to handle the principal’s affairs. A special POA, on the other hand, is more limited in scope and only grants the agent authority to perform specific tasks on behalf of the principal.
Powers of Attorney can be either ‘durable’ or ‘non-durable.’ Durable Powers of Attorney remain in effect even if the principal becomes incapacitated, while non-durable Powers of Attorney become invalid if the principal becomes incapacitated.
Most Powers of Attorney are revocable, meaning that the principal can cancel them at any time. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as when a Power of Attorney is used to transfer property ownership or when it’s part of an irrevocable trust agreement.
