What is a Power of Attorney?
Power of attorney doesn’t necessarily mean unlimited power. What it means to grant POA can mean a lot of different things depending on what you need and what you want. So, this article is going to try to help demystify some myths.
Power of attorney law isn’t a complex topic when you start to break it down. Actually, a lot of it centers around how much power you can/want to give someone.
If anything, this article is meant to help you understand what kind of POA that you can grant rather than crush your hopes. If you’re looking to grant someone power over both medical and asset-related decisions, that’s totally fine.
If you don’t want to give the person that you have in mind much power, that’s fine as well. Continue to read to get a clearer picture of what POA really involves.
You Can Sign Whenever
The above statement is partly true. When you sign is up to you. Though, the times that you’ll be able to sign are relative to your abilities. Physical strength may not impact you whatsoever while you may find that not everything is legal if you sign while mentally incapacitated. This is true for certain parts of estate planning as mental incapacitation can be grounds for revoking some legal docs that you’ve signed.
It’s a sad and potentially unfair truth, but it’s a truth, nonetheless. What you signed may even be revoked out of good intentions for you. Not everyone can see into your mind and they might not trust your more recent actions, believing that you’re not acting like you. A change of heart is one thing. Trusting a complete stranger with durable power of attorney is another. For your sake, do things while your mental faculties are in the best of shape.
Surpasses Death
You can’t give someone power of attorney that will outlast you. There’s durable POA that will be in affect even while your incapacitated.
That’s for sure. Nevertheless, someone only maintains power of attorney while you’re still here. You’re the metaphorical battery to their legal powers in this case. So, once their battery runs out of juice, there’s no more power of attorney they can use.
For your best interests, focus on finding a trusted person to care for you and your estate while you’re still here. What they do after you’re gone doesn’t necessarily affect whether or not they should have POA. The central factor is taking care of you and your belongings. Deciding on serious issues that affect your livelihood is the heart of their role.
End of Independence
Independent or not, giving another somebody POA is a far cry from forfeiting your independence. Sure, durable power of attorney lets another party make key decisions while you’re incapacitated, but granting power of attorney doesn’t mean that you need to sign away your life.
You get to have say in what powers someone does and doesn’t have and how long their powers will last. Limiting what they can do is an option for you from the start.
Think of this as picking a servant rather than as handing someone the keys to your life. Just be mindful of every decision that you make pertaining to their powers. If the discussion of what kind of limits you want in place hasn’t come up, bring it up while you still can.
As far as your concerned, everyone might assume that you’re looking to grant as much power as you can regardless of how true that rings. If you can, be upfront and direct on what limitations you want imposed.
Automatically Financial and Medical
This is a partial extension of the last paragraph. With that said, recognize that granting someone POA doesn’t mean that they’ll automatically obtain power over estate and medical decisions.
The type of POA that they’re about to receive may only cover one of those two. You should double check before you sign anything. Anyone can be granted power over both just as someone can be both a conservator and a guardian simultaneously.
However, you need to have final say in the matter. If you’re unsure if you’re granting enough power, discuss this early on or perhaps when you’re negotiating limitations. You can approach this issue two different ways. Either you can be cautious about their abilities and limit what can be done or you can be cautious about them not having enough power and limit the limitations.
Debunking More Myths
If you have more questions or want more POA myths debunked, call 612-424-0398. With the help of the law firm of Flanders Law Firm LLC, they can help you get a better understanding of power of attorney law.
They’re there to not only help you work out the details of what kind of power of attorney that you want to grant, but they’re also there to make sure that everything makes sense. Perhaps you want to figure out what kind of limitations you can impose or you’re not sure whether or not POA is an option for you. It never hurts to ask.
