Power of attorney

What it means

A power of attorney gives a person you choose authority to act on your behalf, usually over finances. A durable one continues if you lose capacity, which is the reason most people make one.

It is not a will and it is not an inheritance document. Its authority ends at death, immediately and completely.

Why it matters

The end-at-death rule catches families constantly: somebody who managed a parent's accounts for years finds their authority gone the day the parent dies.

It is also the single most useful document to have in place before capacity is lost, because the alternative — guardianship — is a court process.

When you are likely to meet it

• While helping a parent manage money or property.
• When a bank refuses to talk to you about somebody else's account.
• When an agency says a power of attorney cannot be used to sign for an executor or heir — a common and explicit restriction.

Power of attorney against guardianship

The same practical problem, solved before or after the window closes. The difference is not small.

This is the argument for signing one early, and it is the whole argument.

How this varies by state

Form requirements, witnessing and notarization, and whether institutions must accept one, are all state questions.

Related terms

• Advance directiveA document recording your medical wishes, and naming who should speak for you if you cannot.
• Attorney-in-factThe person a power of attorney gives authority to. Not a lawyer.
• DeclarantThe person who signed the advance directive — named this way because the document speaks for them once they cannot.
• Durable power of attorneyA power of attorney that keeps working after the person who signed it loses the ability to make decisions — which is usually the whole point of signing one.
• Fiduciary dutyThe obligation to act for somebody else's benefit rather than your own — and to be able to show you did.
• Incapacitated principalThe person who signed a power of attorney, after they have lost capacity — and the statutes are explicit that no court has to have said so.
• NotarizationA notary public confirming who you are and witnessing your signature, so that a document can be relied on by somebody who was not there.
• Personal representativeThe neutral term for whoever is authorized to act for an estate, whether named in a will or appointed by a court.
• Protected personThe person a conservatorship or guardianship is about — and a term whose meaning is not the same in every state.
• Springing power of attorneyA power of attorney that only takes effect once a stated condition is met — usually a doctor confirming the person can no longer manage their affairs.
• Authorized signerSomebody a bank permits to transact on an account they do not own. It is access without ownership, and it ends at the account holder's death.
• Successor agentThe person a power of attorney names to act if the first-named agent cannot. Without one, the document can be left with nobody able to use it.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Power of attorney
• Guardianship