Your agent may spend your money on themself rather than for your benefit.Your agent might pressure you for authority that you do not want to grant.The POA document itself may be a forgery.It gives someone else a great deal of authority over your finances without regular oversight. Protect against power-of-attorney abuseĪ POA, however, does involve some risk. If you don’t create a POA in advance, a friend or family member might have to go to court to have a guardian appointed if you become incapacitated and are no longer able to make decisions for yourself – and that process can be lengthy, expensive, and very public. If you’re unable to afford a lawyer, you may be able to take advantage of free legal aid programs. POAs can be complicated and involving a lawyer could help protect against potential abuses. Getting help from a lawyer to name an agent under a POA is relatively inexpensive. For example, a servicemember being deployed overseas can create a POA so someone can pay bills, sell property, or handle other business in their absence. When used for advance planning, a POA generally is “durable,” meaning it continues to be effective even if you become incapacitated.Ī financial POA can also be used for short-term purposes. Using a financial power of attorneyĪ financial POA can be used as a tool to help plan for the future, including the possibility that you’ll be unable to make important financial decisions due to dementia, traumatic brain injury, or another impairment that could affect your mental function. You can plan ahead by creating a POA to appoint a substitute decision-maker, also called an agent. Powers of attorney (POA) can be helpful to older people and others who want to choose a trusted person to act on their behalf when they cannot.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |