- Click Here For More Specific Information On:
- Australia Motor Insurance Quote
A power of attorney is a legal document wherein one person (the Granter/Principal) appoints another person or organization to act as an agent on his or her behalf. The granter delegates his authority to the agent to perform certain acts or functions on his behalf. The person or organization you appoint is referred to as an “Attorney-in-Fact” or “Agent”. Legal will and power of attorney has a close relationship. Whenever a testator creates a Will, he definitely requires a person to enforce his Will according to his wishes. Therefore, executor works in the same way as an agent work in power of attorney forms.
Purpose of Power of Attorney
Coming to power of attorney, it enables a principal’s affairs to be managed by a person of their choice when they are unable to conduct them personally, such as if they are ill, traveling overseas or become mentally incapacitated. A powers of attorney will usually end either at a specified time or upon the request of the principal at any time using a power of attorney revocation and will automatically be revoked if the donor loses mental capacity. We will come to revocation shortly.
Types of Powers of Attorney
General Power of Attorney: This is where you appoint someone, usually for a specific period of time, to make financial or legal decisions for you.
Health Care Power of Attorney: A Health Care Power of Attorney is a document that allows you to designate a person (an “Agent”) who will have the authority to make health care decisions on your behalf if you are unconscious, mentally incompetent, or otherwise unable to make such decisions
Special Power of Attorney: A special power of attorney allows you to give only specific powers to the person or organization you appoint as your Agent. For example, you could authorize someone to sell a car or a house for you.
The Pros and Cons of the Power Of Attorney
Why the document is useful
The general power of attorney would be useful if, for example, you are selling your home and the exchange of contracts is due to take place around the time when you will be away on holiday. Then, if there are problems while you are away on holiday – e.g. a last minute amendment to what is included within the fixtures and fittings of the property – these amendments can be signed off by your ‘attorney’ under your general power of attorney. Failure to have a power of attorney in place may mean that, in this scenario, you cannot complete the paperwork in the proper form accepted by solicitors and Land Registry for a property sale even if you fully know and have agreed to all the amendments.
Remember that in giving a power of attorney to someone, you are basically giving up all your powers in favour of your attorney. For instance, your agent has full right to agree or refuse to sign a contract on your behalf. If the agent turns out to be corrupt, then any transaction that he handles is at risk for fraud. Thus, giving that kind of power to one person can be very risky even if you plan to monitor all the transaction made in your name.
Deciding Who to Appoint
You need to make this decision for yourself. You can choose any adult to be your agent. You should try to appoint someone who you have grounds for believing is trustworthy and who both knows you well enough, and is objective enough, to make the decisions that are best for you.
Powers of Agent/Attorney
These powers usually include: Handling banking transactions Entering safety deposit boxes Handling transactions involving U.S. securities Buying and selling property Purchasing life insurance Settling claims Entering into contracts Exercising stock rights Buying, managing or selling real estate Filing tax returns Handling matters related to government benefits You also have the option to grant the following additional powers to your Agent: Maintaining and operating business interests Employing professional assistance Making gifts Making transfers to revocable (“living”) trusts Disclaiming interests (this has to do with estate planning strategies to avoid estate taxes) A principal can also limit or place conditions on how he wants his attorney/s to carry out their responsibilities.
What are the Public Guardian’s responsibilities?
All continuing and welfare powers of attorney must be registered with the OPG who will maintain a Public Register. The Public Guardian also has a statutory obligation to notify the appropriate local authority and Mental Welfare Commission of any welfare powers of attorney which have been registered. Once a power of attorney has been registered with this office, the Public Guardian will return the signed power of attorney and issue a Certificate of Registration to the sender. The Certificate can then be used by the Attorney immediately in the case of a continuing power of attorney if this is the Granter’s wish, or it can be kept safe until such times as the Granter has lost capacity or wishes the Attorney to act on his/her behalf. A welfare Attorney however cannot exercise any of the welfare powers granted until the Granter has lost capacity.
Can the Power of Attorney be Revoked?
The Granter can revoke a continuing or welfare power of attorney or any of the powers granted in it once it has been registered with the Public Guardian. The granter must give notice of the revocation in writing.
Why Revoke a Power of Attorney Some reasons include:
The power of attorney is no longer necessary as you are now able to act on your own behalf; You no longer trust your attorney; You have found a more suitable candidate to act as your attorney; It is no longer practical to have your attorney acting on your behalf (e.g. your attorney no longer resides in the same jurisdiction as you do); and The purpose of the power of attorney has been fulfilled and you no longer need an attorney to act for you.
Deed of Revocation of Power of Attorney A revocation of a power of attorney is not effective against the attorney or any third party (e.g. bank) until notice of the revocation has been received by that party. Consequently, it is a good idea to have a written document as evidence of your revocation to make sure there is no doubt as to your intention to revoke the power.
A power of attorney can be revoked at any time. And you are not required to explain why you are revoking your power of attorney.
Effective Revocation of Power of Attorney
Upon the signing of the Deed of Revocation, a witness shall be required to counter sign the Deed to confirm that you are the correct person and that you have chosen to revoke power of attorney that is in place. The Deed of Revocation document and copies of such must be given to the attorney and any third parties who are involved in the matter. We recommend that you make copies for this purpose to ensure the original is kept safe and cannot be misplaced.
Net Lawman’s Power of Attorney and Legal Will Forms
Net Lawman has various templates of power of attorney and last will and testament template. We also have forms to revoke a power of attorney whereby you will have ease of mind and can simply use our template to revoke an existing power of attorney. The Deed of Revocation document is a template that can be easily and fully edited to ensure it meets your requirements. The template has been drafted by our team of Solicitors and Barrister for reliability.
Our templates have been designed to protect your legal rights when you need to hand over power of attorney to another or to create a legal will. You can customize the template according to your own wishes. The document available for download is written by expert team of Solicitors and Barristers to ensure your rights are being protected. Our templates have been designed to be used in Scotland, and are regularly updated to comply with domestic legislation.
Article Source: sooperarticles.com/law-articles/power-attorney-form-revoke-power-attorney-510162.html
About Author:
Paul Johns working for – Net Lawman SC for providing best quality legal documents, legal agreements and free information for: power of attorney, confidentiality form and non disclosure agreements .Author: Paul Johns