People are very proactive in life today. So many have already taken the time out to prepare a ‘Will’ or a ‘Trust’ to handle their personal and financial matters after their death. However, the appointment of someone to take medical, financial or even personal decisions for you, while you are alive, and yet incapacitated, disabled or outrightly more interested in dwelling over your mid-life crisis, is acutely significant. This may be done with the help of a legal process known as granting the ‘Power of Attorney’, a legal document that may change your life. There are two of these- a General or a Specific POA (Power of Attorney)- both achieving diverse objectives. A General POA was a popular choice amongst the citizens until they realised how easily they could be hornswoggled by this tool.
General Power of Attorney
A General power of attorney grants an agent (to whom the POA is granted) virtually unfettered powers of decision making, from tax payment to entering contracts, from settling claims to buying a new toaster, everything. Since the subject matter is not listed in this case, the agent becomes the master of your fate and the captain of your soul. The duration of such a POA may also be arbitrary, depending on how it is drafted. Signing such a document makes you liable for the myriad acts your agent is legally allowed to perform (you could end up in jail, yes).
Specific or special power of attorney
An easy fix is the adoption of a Specific POA, that not only states the specific purpose which the agent is allowed to perform, it also acknowledges the limited duration of the POA. Rather than granting a singular General POA to one agent, one can grant several Specific POA’s to more than one agent, as regards to financial transactions, business interests, real estate etc, which would ensure no abuse of power. This should definitely save one from endless trips to the court, in case one’s agent turns out to be like a country’s parliamentarians- a rapacious perjurer.
It may not be wise to keep an absolute restraint on the power granted, nonetheless, it is imperative to ensure that the reigns are tight enough to keep your horse from freelance grazing as and when it makes up it’s mind.