A Power of Attorney (POA) for financial matters can be just as important as POA for your health care matters. A Financial POA allows you to choose someone who can potentially handle your tax matters, transfer stock, and purchase and sell property for you. Having a financial POA will also allow your agent to negotiate medical bills for you. Financial POAs can be general, durable, conditional, or special, depending on the language included in the Power of Attorney.
A Financial POA ends at the Principal's incapacity unless there is specific language that makes it durable. And, all POAs end upon the death of the principal.
Because Financial Powers of Attorney give agents so much power over the principal's financial well-being, they must contain statutory warning language to warn the principal of the serious consequences of granting so much power to their agents. Additionally, there is language for the agents, which informs them of their legal and financial responsibilities to act in the principal's best interests. The the agent must sign an acknowledgement of these responsibilities.
There is a Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney (Listed at right in PDF format) that is contained within California Probate Code § 4401. **The form is not visible on the California Legislature's website, but is available through Westlaw and Lexis Advance, as well as the PDF version at the link on the right.** However, you should also consult with your financial institutions, many of them have their own Financial Powers of Attorney form that will needed to be filled out.
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