Understanding Power of Attorney: Types, Benefits, and How to Obtain One
Do you feel overwhelmed by the complexity of managing your financial, medical, or legal affairs specially when you are ill? Then you are not alone. There are many of the people who face same challenges and it is daunting to navigate these situations. Power of Attorney is a legal tool that helps you to alleviate this stress by allow you to designate a trusted person to act on your behalf. This ensures that your wishes are followed and your interests are protected when you cant make decision by yourself. If you are also finding yourself in similar situation then you might want to know more about this topic. This is why we are here with this post as it is going to discuss about power of attorney, its types, benefits and how to obtain one.
What is power of attorney?
Power of Attorney (POA) is simply a legal document which gives someone else the authority to act on your behalf. However, this person is known as the “agent” or “attorney-in-fact”. This person would be appointed by you and they can make decision on your behalf. They would be doing tasks such as managing your finances, making medical choices or even handling legal matters. When you appoint a POA, it means that you are unable to make decisions for yourself because of illness, injury or absence. In this case, someone trusted can come forward to act on your behalf.
Types of power of attorney
There are different types of power of attorney. Each of them have different purposes. here are the most common types:
- General power of attorney: this is the type of POA that gives authority to agent board through which they can handle wide range tasks. Example- managing your finances, signing documents and making legal decisions. This type of POA is helpful when you want someone to handle your affairs for a temporary period such as when you are travelling abroad.
- Limited or special power of attorney: this is the next type of POA which gives your agent authority to handle specific tasks or situations. Example – you can handover the task to sell a car or manage your particular bank account. However, when the task is completed the POA is invalid.
- Durable power of attorney: this is the next type of POA which remains in effect when you become incapacitated and unable to make decision for yourself. However, this is important for long-term planning as it can guide someone to manage your affairs when you are unable to do so.
- Medical or healthcare power of attorney: this is the next type of POA that allows your agent to make medical decisions on your behalf. This is for the time when you are unable to communicate your wishes. This POA can include decisions related to your treatments, surgeries and long-term care.
- Springing power of attorney: springing POA is designed to be effective under specific conditions such as if you become incapacitated. Basically, it becomes active when certain criteria are met as mentioned in the document.
So, these were some of the types of POA that you can prepare as per your requirements.
Benefits of power of attorney
There are many of the benefits of having a power of attorney. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Ensures your wishes are followed: it allows you to designate someone trusted to make decisions on your behalf. This is helpful when you are unable to communicate as it ensures that your wishes are followed.
- Prevents legal complications: when you don’t have POA, your family members will have to follow a lengthy process and costly legal processes. This helps to obtain the authority to manage your affairs. When you already have a POA, it helps to save up time and prevent your family from all these complication and ensures a smooth transition of authority.
- Protects your financial interests: a POA is there to help you protect the financial interests by allowing your agent to manage your assets, pay bills and make financial decisions. This becomes really helpful when you are unable to handle these tasks by yourself.
- Allows for timely medical decisions: medical POA is helpful to ensure that someone is there to make timely decisions on your behalf as per your preferences and interests. This becomes really important for emergency situations where quick decisions are required.
- Provides peace of mind: when you have well prepared POA, it offers you peace of mind. You know that you can trust on someone to manage your affairs and make best decisions,
Now that you have got to know about different types of power of attorney and their benefits, you might want to know the process of obtaining one. Lets jump to next section for knowing the process.
How to obtain a power of attorney
As there are many benefits of POA, it is important to follow the correct steps to obtain a POA. There are several steps to obtain a power of attorney. However, they are straightforward. Here are the required steps:
- Determine your needs: determine the type of POA that you need on the basis of your specific situation. You can consider to know about the types of POA and which one suits your needs.
- Choose your agent: make sure to appoint a trusted person to act as your agent. Choose someone who you can trust completely. As you are going to give them the power to act on your behalf.
- Draft the POA document: you search for some POA templates online and then draft the POA document. You also have the option to seek professional help as you would get expert advise for your POA. However, it is important to make sure that the document clearly outlines the power you are granting to your agent and any conditions or limitations.
- Sign the POA document: you can sign the document in the presence of a notary public or witnesses as per the state’s law. This would makes sure that the document is legally binding.
- Distribute copies: make sure to provide the copies of your signed POA documents to your agent, your attorney and any relevant institutions. Example- banks or healthcare providers etc. Note that you have to keep the original copy of the POA at a safe place.
- Review and update: once you have followed all the above steps, it is important to regularly check POA to ensure that its still valid and meeting your needs. You may need to update it as necessary or if any circumstances changes or even if you want appoint a new agent.
So these were some of the steps that you need to follow for obtaining a POA. However, understand power of attorney is such an important point as it protects your interests and ensures that your wishes are followed. Gathering knowledge about different types of POA, benefits and steps to obtain one will help you to move forward in correct direction. By following above mentioned point you can prepare a POA that suits your needs whether its for managing finances, making medical decisions, or handling legal matters. However, it is also important to take appropriate time to choose the right type of POA, choose trust worthy agent and draft POA document in correct manner.