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Power of Attorney Documents
Ensure someone you trust can make decisions if you can't. Essential protection for every adult.
Create POA NowHow to Get Started
Create your power of attorney documents online
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Create Your Account
Register online securely. Access your POA documents anytime.
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Complete the Questionnaire
Our step-by-step wizard guides you through selecting agents and defining powers.
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Attorney Review & Consultation
Our attorney prepares your documents and reviews them with you to ensure they meet your needs.
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Notarize & Distribute
Execute documents properly and provide copies to relevant parties per our instructions.
Why You Need a Power of Attorney
Essential protection that everyone should have
Healthcare Decisions
Ensure someone can make medical decisions if you're incapacitated.
Financial Matters
Allow a trusted person to manage your finances when you cannot.
Avoid Conservatorship
Prevent costly and time-consuming court proceedings.
Your Choice
You decide who makes decisions, not the court.
Specific Powers
Grant broad or limited powers based on your preferences.
Peace of Mind
Know your affairs will be handled by someone you trust.
What's Included
Complete POA package
Understanding Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that authorizes another person (called your "agent" or "attorney-in-fact") to act on your behalf in legal, financial, or medical matters. This essential document ensures that someone you trust can manage your affairs if you become unable to do so yourself due to illness, injury, or absence. Without a POA, your family may need to petition the court for conservatorship or guardianship—an expensive, time-consuming, and often stressful process.
Types of POA and When to Use Each
Different types of powers of attorney serve different purposes:
- Financial (General) Power of Attorney: Allows your agent to handle banking, investments, real estate, taxes, business operations, and other financial matters. Can be immediate or "springing" (takes effect only upon incapacity).
- Durable Power of Attorney: Remains in effect even if you become incapacitated. Most financial POAs should be durable to be useful when you need them most.
- Healthcare Power of Attorney: Authorizes your agent to make medical decisions on your behalf when you cannot. Also called a healthcare proxy or medical power of attorney.
- Limited (Special) Power of Attorney: Grants authority only for specific transactions or time periods, such as selling a property while you're abroad.
- Springing Power of Attorney: Takes effect only when a specified event occurs, typically your incapacity as certified by physicians.
Most people need both a financial POA and healthcare POA for comprehensive protection. We help you determine which documents best suit your situation.
Choosing Your Agent Wisely
Selecting the right agent is one of the most important decisions you'll make. Your agent should be:
- Trustworthy: Someone with absolute integrity who will act in your best interests
- Responsible: Capable of handling financial matters or medical decisions competently
- Available: Accessible when needed and willing to serve in this role
- Good Communicator: Able to work with family members, doctors, or financial institutions
- Financially Stable: For financial POA, someone not facing financial difficulties
- Understands Your Values: For healthcare POA, someone who knows your medical preferences
You can name different agents for financial and healthcare matters, and you should always name alternate agents in case your first choice cannot serve. Spouses, adult children, siblings, or trusted friends commonly serve as agents.
When POA Takes Effect
Powers of attorney can be structured to take effect at different times:
- Immediate POA: Takes effect as soon as you sign it. Useful for immediate needs or if you want your agent to begin helping with your affairs right away. You retain full ability to manage your own affairs alongside your agent.
- Springing POA: Takes effect only upon your incapacity, usually requiring certification by one or two physicians. While this seems appealing, springing POAs can be difficult to activate when needed, as doctors may hesitate to certify incapacity, and institutions may question whether the triggering event has truly occurred.
Most attorneys recommend immediate durable POAs because they're easier to use when needed. If you trust someone enough to name them as your agent, they can be trusted not to abuse an immediate POA. You can always revoke a POA if circumstances change.
Revoking a Power of Attorney
You can revoke a power of attorney at any time as long as you're mentally competent. To revoke a POA:
- Create a written revocation document stating your intent to revoke
- Sign and date the revocation, preferably with notarization
- Notify your agent in writing that the POA is revoked
- Notify all institutions that have a copy of the POA (banks, healthcare providers, etc.)
- Retrieve and destroy all copies of the revoked POA if possible
- Create a new POA if you want to name a different agent
POAs automatically terminate upon your death, at which point your executor or successor trustee takes over. A POA cannot be used to override your will or trust provisions.
Limitations and Protections
Powers of attorney are powerful documents, but they have important limitations. Your agent cannot change your will, make decisions after your death, act in their own interest instead of yours, or make decisions outside the scope of authority you granted. Most states require agents to act as fiduciaries, meaning they must act in good faith, avoid conflicts of interest, keep accurate records, and preserve your assets.
If you're concerned about potential abuse, you can include specific limitations, require periodic accountings, or name a co-agent who must approve major decisions. Our attorneys help you structure your POA with appropriate safeguards while maintaining the flexibility you need.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can structure your POA in several ways: (1) Name co-agents who must act together on all decisions, (2) Name co-agents who can act independently, (3) Name one primary agent with one or more successor agents who serve if the primary cannot, or (4) Name different agents for different matters (one for financial, another for healthcare). Co-agents who must act together provide checks and balances but can be impractical if quick decisions are needed. Independent co-agents offer flexibility but risk disagreements. Most people name one primary agent with successors as backups. We help you choose the structure that best fits your family situation.
Yes, all powers of attorney automatically terminate at the moment of your death. After death, your agent has no further authority under the POA. Instead, your executor (named in your will) or successor trustee (named in your trust) takes over management of your estate. This is why you need both a POA for incapacity during life and a will or trust for death. Your POA agent cannot access safe deposit boxes, make funeral arrangements, or distribute assets after death—these duties belong to your executor or trustee. Plan for both scenarios with comprehensive estate planning documents.
No. Your agent must act within the scope of authority you grant in the POA document and according to your known wishes and best interests. Agents have a fiduciary duty—the highest legal duty of care—requiring them to act honestly, avoid conflicts of interest, keep your money separate from theirs, maintain records, and preserve your assets. You can further limit your agent's powers by excluding specific authorities (like making gifts or changing beneficiaries) or requiring court oversight. If an agent abuses their authority, they can face civil and criminal liability. Our attorneys help you grant appropriate powers with reasonable safeguards.
Banks are generally required to accept valid POAs but may have specific requirements. Some banks prefer their own POA forms, though most states prohibit banks from requiring this. Banks may reject POAs that are very old, appear to have been forged, contain unusual provisions, or don't clearly grant financial authority. This is why we recommend: (1) Using a comprehensive, professionally drafted POA, (2) Having it notarized and witnessed, (3) Updating it every few years, (4) Providing copies to banks while you're still competent, and (5) Including specific language authorizing banking transactions. If a bank improperly refuses a valid POA, legal remedies are available, but proper preparation prevents most problems.
To revoke a POA: (1) Create a written revocation document stating you revoke the POA, including the date of the original POA, (2) Sign and date it, preferably with notarization, (3) Deliver written notice to your agent that their authority is revoked, (4) Notify all third parties who received copies (banks, healthcare providers, etc.), (5) Request return of all copies of the old POA, (6) Destroy your copies of the old POA. If desired, create a new POA naming a different agent. Verbal revocation isn't sufficient—it must be in writing. If your agent has already acted under the POA, their prior actions generally remain valid. We can prepare a proper revocation document and guide you through the notification process.
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