A General Power of Attorney can handle your assets and accounts during your life, but when you can’t handle things for yourself, as might be the case after an auto accident, or when you’re out of the country or, worst of all, if you’re in a coma or have a traumatic brain injury (“TBI”).
With any Power of Attorney you are authorizing an “Agent” that you name to act in your behalf. We typically ask our clients to list not just one, but up to three Agents, each to act alone, and only if the previous Agent is unable or unwilling to serve.
These Powers of Attorney often have the word “Durable” in their title as well. This simply means that the Power doesn’t expire, but lasts your whole life or until you revoke it. (That’s pretty durable.)
Additionally, a General Power of Attorney can be “immediate” or “springing.” An Immediate General Power of Attorney is in force the second you, as “Principal,” sign it. (The Principal is the one granting the power to the Agent.) A Springing General Power of Attorney only takes effect once some predesignated event or condition takes place. Examples might include: two physicians certify that you are incapable of handling your own affairs; you are in a coma; you score at a certain level on a dementia test, etc.
Bad things can happen when a person has not issued a Power of Attorney. Founder Arlen Card was once called in to assist an elderly lady in an assisted living community when her husband fell quickly into Alzheimer’s induce dementia and had gone into the facility’s “memory unit.” The problem was, he had not issued any power of attorney, and all their money was tied up in real estate held in Joint Tenancy, yet he was no longer competent to sign a deed. This meant that she couldn’t sell any property to pay their now much higher expenses. She chose to borrow from their children and wait for her husband to pass away, rather than to pay the cost of a guardianship proceeding.
Our firm does not allow clients to only get a Will from us without also ensuring that they also have valid Powers of Attorney in place.
Another type of Power of Attorney that is important to have is the Health Care Power of Attorney.