Power of Attorney 101

Making the decision to put a power of attorney in place is an important and wise one, since powers of attorney are accepted in all states. When valid, a power of attorney can give someone else the opportunity to make decisions and elections on your behalf. Like all estate planning documents, you should have your estate planning attorney review your document to ensure it’s validity in your resident state.

A power of attorney can be sweeping and broad, enabling an agent to act fully on your behalf, or it can be limited to ensure that certain transactions and scenarios are taken care of in the event that something happens to you. If you want to be sure that the closing portion of your home sale goes through, for example, you can structure your power of attorney to only “activate” the agent’s powers in that particular capacity.