For issues both legal and financial, a power of attorney (POA) document grants an authorized person the right to perform actions on your behalf. You may not have an international business that needs multiple people to act for you. If you have aging parents, however, protecting them and their estates may require a power of attorney. With estate planning, the person authorized via a power of attorney may not get involved until years later. The following discusses the importance of creating a POA in Pennsylvania.
Accounts for aging parents
Anticipating your parents’, and your own, mental and physical decline calls for a certain type of insurance. What is to be expected when aging is your inability to do much of what you’re able to do now. The limitations of aging, likewise, have substantial effects on those with major assets. Managing a business, for example, takes attention and focus. A power of attorney substitutes someone’s capacity if his or her focus or health fails. The two parts of a POA are:
- The agent. This is a person who receives the authority to act in someone’s stead.
- The principal. This is the individual who authorizes a POA and who the agent works for.
Predetermined methods of action
There are a few basic actions that an agent gives to the power of attorney. During estate planning, your agent can be assigned to legally:
- Create signatures as valid as yours
- Open accounts and, with his or her own I.D., withdraw money from yours
- Lead the sale or purchase of property, which can be tangible, intangible or real estate
- Enter and exit investment strategies in real-time or by giving others orders
- Have payments for bills and utilities taken directly from his or her personal accounts
Sooner rather than later
A POA agent has the right to provide private medical care as well. For health reasons, giving a home nurse a power of attorney equips him or her to offer better life support. The mental and physical limitations of the elderly are enough to get many estate owners concerned about the well-being of their assets. A POA overcomes their limitations in many cases.