A person choosing to make a power of attorney (the principal) decides on a trusted, reliable and honest person to be their attorney-in-fact and then determines what powers to give the attorney in fact.
The principal can give the attorney-in-fact limited powers with the power to conduct minimal tasks like managing bank accounts or signing checks, or the principal can give the attorney-in-fact broad, general powers with power to handle all the monetary and personal affairs of the principal. The principal must decide whether the powers take effect right away or take effect when the principal is unable to manage their affairs because of incapacity. It is a prudent idea to have language in the power of attorney to makes it durable so that the powers contained in the document are not effected by the principal's incapacity.
|The workings of a power of attorney|