Power of Attorney

When someone is granted a power of attorney over another person’s financial assets or healthcare decisions, they assume a fiduciary duty requiring that they act in the best interest of the principal who gave them that power. Unfortunately, despite the highest hopes of the person granting power of attorney, some who are entrusted with a POA betray that trust and convert the principal’s money or other property to their own use. In this blog post, we discuss the ways in which someone may abuse a POA and what can be done to stop the abuse of power....

For years, the New York Durable Power of Attorney Statutory Short Form was a source of problems for both the principal who was granting power of attorney (POA), and for the agent to whom authority was granted. The law required elder law attorneys and other professionals who draft POAs to use only the identical words and phrases  spelled out in the statutory form or risk having the POA rejected by financial institutions and others....

A New York medical power of attorney, also known as a “health care proxy,” is a legal document that allows a patient to grant authority to a trusted individual (known as an “agent”, “proxy”, or an “attorney-in-fact”) to make medical decisions on their behalf if they are incapacitated. ...

On December 15th of last year, the State of New York introduced a new law that made significant changes to the New York power of attorney (“POA”). These changes took effect on June 13, 2021. Note that the new law won’t have any effect on the validity of existing, duly executed POAs, and the Statutory Gifts Riders, as they will all be grandfathered in....

In New York, an agent designated in a durable POA can only act on the principal’s behalf after he or she signs the power of attorney in front of two adult witnesses, and a notary public.  The language included in the document must also meet certain statutory requirements....

A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that provides a trusted individual (known as the agent or attorney-in-fact) with the authority to act for another person (the principal). ...

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