Springing power of attorney

What it means

A springing power of attorney sits dormant. The agent has no authority until the triggering condition happens and can be proved.

The trigger is normally incapacity, certified by one or two physicians. The document says who decides and how.

It is the opposite of an immediately effective power of attorney, which the agent can use from the day it is signed.

Why it matters

It appeals to people who are uneasy about handing over authority now, and it fails in practice more often than the alternative: the agent has to obtain medical certification before a bank will listen, and that takes time exactly when there is none.

Privacy law can make the trigger harder to prove than expected, unless the document also authorizes the doctors to release the finding.

When you are likely to meet it

• When reviewing a power of attorney a parent signed years ago.
• When an institution asks for proof that the power of attorney is in effect.

How this varies by state

Whether a state recognizes a springing power of attorney, and what proof of the trigger it requires, are set by state law.

Related terms

• Attorney-in-factThe person a power of attorney gives authority to. Not a lawyer.
• CapacityWhether somebody is able to understand a decision and its consequences well enough to make it. It is decided decision by decision, not once and for all.
• 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.
• HIPAA authorizationWritten permission for a doctor, hospital or insurer to share somebody's medical information with a named person.
• Power of attorneyA document letting somebody act for you while you are alive — and which stops working the moment you die.
• 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