Power of Attorney : What is a POA?

General  Power of Attorney:  principals give their agent(s) the authority to act their behalf, but this power ends if the principal becomes incapacitated or disabled.

Durable Power of Attorney: principals give their agent(s) authority to act their behalf even if the principal becomes incapacitated or disabled. 

Springing Power of Attorney: a POA that only goes into effect when certain conditions are met. Most often they are used to grant authority to the agent when the principal becomes incapacitated or disabled.  Also known as a Conditional Power of Attorney.

Special or Limited Power of Attorney: principals give their agent(s) specific powers for a specified time. When drafting a special power of attorney, principals are required to list the particular decisions over which the agent(s) has power.

A Power of Attorney (POA) is an agreement between two people, a principal and an agent. The principal is the creator of the POA and chooses a person to act on their behalf or make decisions for them. This person is called the agent.

POAs can be used to give the agent authority to make decisions in different areas. Some POAs are very broad, like to make medical decisions for a person, or a POA can be for a specific purpose, like to take care of your children while you are on vacation.

POAs can last indefinitely, or they can last for a specific period of time. Most POAs go into effect when they are signed, but some can have language that they will  only go into effect if a specific event takes place.

So, POAs can be whatever you need them to be, but some types of POAs require some statutorily required language, and they must be either:

• notarized by a notary or,
• signed by two adult witnesses.

The most common POAs are:

• Medical Power of Attorney:  Sometimes called Durable Powers of Attorney for Healthcare or an Advance Healthcare Directives
• Financial Power of Attorney
• Power of Attorney for Childcare

Healthcare: This Power of Attorney allows the Principal to choose someone to make medical decisions for them. In California, the most common type of Healthcare Power of Attorney is the Advance Health Care Directive.

Finances: This Power of Attorney allows the Principal to choose an Agent to make financial decisions for them.

Guardianship of Minor Child: This Power of Attorney allows the Principal to choose an Agent to care for their child(ren). This can be in case of incapacity, or if the principal is unavailable (like out of the state).