Power of Attorney in New York: What You Need to Know Before Signing

Designating other people as representatives to make transactions with your property is a major part of estate planning. For example, when you write a will, you designate a personal representative for your estate; he or she will conduct transactions on behalf of your estate. Likewise, when you establish a trust, the trust instrument names someone as a trustee who can disburse money from the trust to the beneficiaries pursuant to the trust instrument or, if applicable, invest assets that belong to the trust, so there will be even more money for the beneficiaries later. The stakes are considerably lower with a power of attorney (POA) than with a will or a trust. Unlike with a will, you are still alive to see your POA in action, so if you see it causing effects that you do not like, you can revoke it and replace it with a new one. Unlike a trust, it does not divest you of ownership of the property named in it. Despite this, a power of attorney is a legally binding document, so you should only sign one if you fully understand the implications, and the best way to do that is with the help of a Bronx estate planning lawyer.

What Does a Power of Attorney Do?

A power of attorney is a legally binding document that gives someone else the authority to make transactions with your money, such as by writing checks from your bank account or selling assets of yours on your behalf. The person that issues the POA is called the principal, and the person authorized to make transactions on the principal’s behalf is called the agent. A limited power of attorney only authorizes the agent to conduct specific transactions, but a general POA gives the agent access to your accounts to make transactions at the agent’s discretion. A durable POA does not have an expiration date. A springing POA becomes effective only when you become too ill to make your own financial transactions. Healthcare proxy forms are sometimes called medical POAs, but they are for medical treatment, not financial transactions.

How Do You Ensure That Your Power of Attorney Is Legally Valid?

A POA becomes legally valid when the principal and two witnesses sign the POA in the presence of a notary, and the notary stamps it with a notary seal. The notary can be one of the witnesses, so you may only need to bring one additional witness. People listed as agents in the POA cannot be witnesses to it, and neither can people who stand to benefit financially from the transactions that the POA is authorizing the agents to make.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

An estate planning lawyer can help you draft a power of attorney and other estate planning documents that authorize other people to make transactions on your behalf.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

freewill.com/learn/guide-to-making-a-new-york-state-power-of-attorney