Power of Attorney
Just as a Will is an important legal document once you die, a Power of Attorney is an important legal document while you are alive.
A Power of Attorney can be in place as a matter of convenience for when you appoint an attorney to do something specific on your behalf, like signing a deed when you can't be available to sign yourself, or doing your banking because you have a hard time getting out. You can also give your attorney an unlimited scope of authority to deal with all your property, assets, money and other finances. Your attorney cannot sign a Will on your behalf.
You can also give your attorney authority to continue acting on your behalf in the event you become incompetent. This is known as an Enduring Power of Attorney. If it is not "enduring", the Power of Attorney becomes invalid if you become incompetent. Without an Enduring Power of Attorney, if you become incompetent, your family may incur high costs to have someone appointed by the court to act as your guardian to make your financial decisions.
You can appoint one person to act as your attorney, or two or more people to act together or separately.
It is common to sign a Personal Directive when you sign a Power of Attorney. This document appoints someone to be your health care delegate to make medical and health care decisions for you in the event you are unable to. You cannot appoint more than one health care delegate, but you can appoint an alternate health care delegate to act if your first named delegate is unable to act. If you wish, you can provide specific direction as to your wishes of what you want to happen in certain circumstances.
A Power of Attorney and Personal Directive are very powerful documents, so you should discuss this decision with a lawyer before deciding who to appoint for this important job.
Please note this is not legal advice for your specific situation.
