Power of Attorney Explained

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A power of attorney is a legal document where you give someone the authority to act for you.

People often misunderstand their power of attorney. The following are ten key concepts (four definitions and six practical effects) that often come up when someone is either creating or using a power of attorney:

(1) A General Power of Attorney. A general power of attorney is comprehensive. It is often use to pay bills and handle other day-to-day activities.

(2) A Limited Power of Attorney. This is a power of attorney for a limited purpose. For example, you are leaving town for three weeks and you won't be present to attend a real estate closing. You may give someone a limited power of attorney to handle anything related to only that transaction.

(3) A Durable Power of Attorney. This power of attorney remains effective after you become incapacitated, which is, quite frankly, the reason most people create a power of attorney. In , all powers of attorney are "durable" unless the specifically provide otherwise.

(4) A Springing Power of Attorney. This power of attorney has no legal effect until it "springs" into effect. A springing power of attorney becomes effective, typically, when the person who created the power of attorney becomes incapacitated. In a springing power of attorney, it is important to clearly define the standard for determining incapacity.

(5) Can They Clean Out My Bank Account. If you give someone power of attorney, they will likely be able to go to your bank and withdraw your funds. However, they have a duty to take actions that are only in your best interest. They would be stealing your money if they went to your bank and withdrew funds and spent those funds on themselves.

(6) Does Certain Language Need to Be in the Power of Attorney? If you expect the person you appoint to be able to do things like make donations, deal with a Succession on your behalf, buy sell or lease things on your behalf, or make your health care decisions, then the power to to those things, and other things, must be expressly granted in the language of the power of attorney document. These rules can vary state to state so check with a good estate attorney in your state to determine which powers must be expressly provided for.

(7) Can I Appoint More Than One Person? You can appoint more than one person to act for you, but do so with caution. Many financial institutions and other third parties do not like to be forced to work with two or more people, together, on a power of attorney. If you must name more than one, consider appointing them to act "jointly or separately."

(8) Must Third Parties Honor Every Power of Attorney? No, a third party cannot be forced to honor a power of attorney that is presented to them. If there is something that they do not like about it (too old for their liking, not the right wording, etc.), they may not honor it.

(9) Do Powers of Attorney Get Recorded. Initially when signed, most powers of attorney do not get recorded at the courthouse. However, when it is time to use the power of attorney, some third parties may require that the power of attorney be recorded, and that the courthouse produce certified copies.

(10) Is My Power of Attorney Effective After I Die? No chance. Your power of attorney is no longer effective after you die. If assets in your name must be transacted after your death, the court will confirm your executor or appoint your administrator to deal with matters after your death.

So I hope you take to points from this post:

(1) Take care of this and all other components of your estate planning legal program while you are well; and

(2) Make sure you give power of attorney to someone you trust, is responsible, and someone you know that will act solely in your best interest, and not their best interest.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.

Paul Rabalais
Estate Planning Attorney
Phone: [phone]

[shimmerysparkles]

Oh boy. This video is very valuable to dysfunctional families like ours. Please make more videos about this and related topics. I'm glad you mentioned that they could get POA and still be breaking the law because my brother has insinuated that he will "take over" my parents accounts and pay on the bills he chooses. The problem with this is that my bro lives in another town. I'm living with them, we share several accounts and credit cards. For him to visit from out of town and basically dance around saying he's going to do WHATEVER he wants to do is threatening harm without even asking questions. He's over stepping his boundaries and my mom needs this restriction the most but my dad is the one being steam rolled. My dad doesn't want any arguing and unfortunately that's all we're doing.

[ETruth]

My brother wanted to go home from a hospital stay. His POA forced him to a nursing home supposedly for rehab. He contracted Covid there, recovered but was still positive. He wanted to go home but again she sent him to a Covid NH for rehab which he never received. I told her to give me POA and I would get him home. She told the NH that I would be taking over POA. They told her to revoke her POA. I took my POA papers to them and they said, "no papers in the building and he's not signing anything." So they gave him the SLUM's TEST and told the Dr. to sign the evaluation form because they family was fighting and had no plans for home care which were totally false. So they declared him incompetent which he was NOT. My brother was crying, pleading, and begging to go home. He fought them to go home so they drugged him. They went to court to get guardianship and they told so many lies to keep him. The Dr. said he could go home but "they would not release his patients because they needed to keep their beds filled for payment!" They put a restraining order on me so I could not talk to my brother or the Dr. They prevented the Dr. from testifying. As a result of laying in a bed 24/7 he had many complications including an unstageable bedsore infected to the bone. He suffered for Covid money. Two attorneys did nothing for him. One charged 2, 500. I'm doing a documentary about how he suffered being held hostage, kidnapped, slavery, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, and trafficked. Trafficking means hold a person against their will for profit. The title is, COVID FRAUD FROM NURSING HOME TRAFFICKING!

[JimNicholsMotorManiaGarage]

Going through this now with my 80 yr old mother. Thank you for making this video.
God Bless you!

[wendycarter]

I pointed my daughter durable power of attorney bcuz I totally trust her & she always put me first. Thanku for ur valuable information & we look forward to more videos where u share an abundance of info. 😊

[TerryProthero]

At my bank, you can fill out papers there, or you can bring papers from your lawyer. In either case, the papers go to their legal department for approval. And then the power of attorney can be listed on your accounts and has authority to access them. You can also set up a beneficiary for when you die. And that can be the same person or a different person. Doing all this ahead of time solves no end of problems. But as mentioned here, a power of attorney could clean you out if they are unscrupulous. So you need to be extremely careful about who you choose for it. Sure, they would be breaking the law and could go to jail for doing that. But your money might be gone before that happens. The other thing to keep in mind is that a financial power of attorney is different than having a joint account with someone. With a joint account, both people have access and are co-owners of the account. The money legally belongs to them both, and neither of them can be removed from the count. A power of attorney has access to the account but only for the limited purpose of doing things on your behalf. They are not an owner of the account, and they can be removed from the account at any time by the owner. The other thing to consider is the scope of things you want the financial power of attorney to handle. They might have access to your accounts, might be charged with dealing with your personal property, or a number of other things depending on what options you choose on the paperwork.

[aristotleandon]

Thank you for this terrific video. I am using my son‘s legal employment perk services for estate planning. As a result, I do not have access to extensive give-and-take with the attorney preparing the documents. Your videos seem to be filling that gap for me. I am in the process of preparing a general POA. I am divorced and 79 years old. I am using an attorney. I am designating my oldest son and granting him authority on all matters as the agent and my much younger son as the successsor agent. My older son is trustworthy and informed on financial/RE issues and we have and have had a close and loving relationship.

[cherylsmith]

Priceless information! To Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Now we need an attorney like you for every state as laws are different in the different parts of the country. God Bless and continue sharing informative content.

[steve]

Thank you so much I just went to the court house today to record the Durable power of attorney. Bless you Mr.Rabalais!

[megmedonis]

Thank you for this. I'm in the process of doing my estate planning and having a tough time making these decisions. Your video was very clear and well done.

[estherzepeda]

thank you so much for all the information my mom gave pow to my younger sister who is from her second marriage and the minute my stepdad passed she asked my mom to be the Power of attorney for my mother now my mothers first marriage is my self my other sister and my brother and when I found out about this my younger sister said I’m only doing this because of our other sister and brother it’s not to keep you out well I’m not full I know she just wants to put all her eggs in a basket so nothing goes to any of her other children only to her it’s a long journey but it’s so sad that families have to go through this so unfortunate that there’s always a bad seed in the family taking advantage of one parent😢

[sigridselver]

Very educational and informative! I want to put a power of attorney in place to protect my properties and personal belongings. So after hearing the information it has opened my eyes and enlighten my understanding. Thanks so much for the information imparted.

[fromjaxflorida]

Priceless information. I'm not that old yet but I'd rather be prepared and informed so in the case something happens to me my daughters are not going to a lengthy court process. I know what I want and I've told them verbally but I want something concrete. I have a loving relationship with both of my daughters so trust is not an issue there.

[gabrielnaranjo]

I wish more notaries knew this stuff. Thank you for putting this out

[Nisaadam]

I have living trust and health care POA, but today, I found out I still need durable POA
Thanks a lot

[mindylemarque]

Great information! Very helpful! Appreciate your service on educating us all. I am grateful!

[universalseeker]

Good Evening. I Thank You. I really appreciate you taking the time to educate the process of being appointed power of attorney. Your presentation actually gave me a piece of mind and expressed the importance of the language in this process.

[marcycodyrnbsn]

Good info. I should have done this a long time ago. My husband was just diagnosed with dementia and is in denial and being scammed 😢

[roberthoering]

Great info - Thankyou for the information and clear explanation. Been thinking about this for awhile.

[peterstanghellini]

Thanks this was very informative. I am getting ready to get this done for my mother. I didn't know about the fact that it stops when the individual dies.

[jasmom]

Thank you, I didn't know anything. Now I'm over 73 and will get one put together soon!