Key Takeaways
- Powers of attorney allow other people to act on your behalf.
- You can grant power of attorney for a variety of reasons.
- You’ll want someone you trust to act as your agent.
Growing up, many of us were familiar with different superheroes and their numerous and varied superpowers. Perhaps you were one of those kids who spent hours thinking about the power to fly, the power to talk to animals, or the power to teleport. As an adult, you likely don’t think about those powers anymore, but one type of power that you may hear a lot about is the power of attorney.
As it turns out, each state in the U.S. has certain powers given to its constituents. To follow along with that, powers of attorney allow you to grant your powers to someone else. That person may then act on your behalf in certain circumstances.
Why might you want to do this? Well, one example (and this is a common one) would be during real estate closings. If you’re out of the country or unable to physically attend a closing, you can sign a power of attorney and have someone else sign your closing documents. This power of attorney gives that person power for that one event.
There’s also a general power of attorney. This allows another person to act on your behalf if you become incapacitated, even if it’s for a short period of time. You give the power of attorney over property, and they can pay your bills and take care of the things you’re unable to do.
One of the most important types of powers, especially for seniors or anyone with health issues, is related to healthcare. Powers of attorney with healthcare allow people to make healthcare decisions, especially when someone is in a coma, gravely ill, or otherwise unable to communicate and make decisions for themselves.
We see a lot of this during estate planning, creating wills and trusts. It’s important to have someone who can take over if you’re not able to act on your own behalf. You’ll want to choose a trusted agent to give power of attorney to – a spouse, a sibling, an adult child, or trusted friend, for example. You can also select a successor agent, and that person would become the agent in the event that the first agent declines or is unable to fulfill their role.
At some point, now or in the future, these very real powers are something you may need to hand over to people you trust to make important decisions regarding your person, your estate, and your future. Until next time, enjoy.
Gary
If you’d like to read more on this topic, here are a few of Gary’s previous posts that you might enjoy:
