Durable Financial Power of Attorney

A Durable Financial Power of Attorney is what is most often referred to when someone says, "Durable Power of Attorney."  "Durable" means that it will stay in force even if the grantor of the power becomes mentally incapacitated.  It is a signed and witnessed or notarized legal document that allows a person to designate an agent to make decisions and control financial assets.  Generally this will be a spouse or a child but may be any person the grantor of the power feels they can rely upon.

The terms of the document may be fairly general or very specific, as desired.  However, there are many occasions when institutions will not recognize a grant of a power of attorney unless it specifically identifies a power dealing with their type of institution.  For instance, some credit unions will not honor a power of attorney that grants power to deal with "banks and other financial institutions" because it is not specific enough.  For that reason, Advanced Legal Planning, LLC is careful to draft as many specific power into a Durable Financial Power of Attorney as may be appropriate for the particular need.

The Durable Financial Power of Attorney may be effective immediately, or may be made effective only when the person lacks the capacity (as determined by a physician) to make or communicate decisions.  Generally we see our friends making the power immediate if it is given to a spouse or someone they trust implicitly.  That way there are no delays when the power is needed.