Power of attorney, also known as durable power of attorney, are legal documents that allow or authorize someone to act on your behalf. This typically applies to business or financial transactions, including banking or real estate transactions. Like a health care proxy, a power of attorney can only act on your behalf in the event that you become incapacitated and are unable to make those decisions yourself. However, power of attorney deals more with business and financial transactions, whereas a health care proxy specifically relates to health and medical care decisions.

Your assets and finances are something you’ve worked hard to amass, and you don’t want to leave them to chance if you become incapacitated. You need to appoint someone you trust to oversee your finances and business transactions if you become unable to, so you can be confident that your wishes are still upheld even when you cannot voice them yourself. You can allow your power of attorney to make decisions on your behalf regarding any transactions, or you can be specific as to what transactions they can made decisions for.

To legally name someone your power of attorney, you need to consult with a professional estate planning attorney. While there are many “do it yourself” power of attorney forms out there, these may not be taken seriously when the time comes that your power of attorney must make decisions on your behalf.

Consult with Grogan & Souto, P.C. today to begin discussing the appointment of someone as your power of attorney. (845) 294-6155.