Power Of Attorney

A power of attorney (POA) is a document by which one person authorizes another to take actions on his/her behalf. The person signing the POA (generally referred to as the Principal or the Grantor) states, in effect, that s/he is not or cannot be present to perform a certain action or sign a certain document, and that s/he is authorizing another person (generally referred to as the Attorney in Fact or Agent) to take that action or sign that document. A POA assures the person or institution that needs the signature that the Principal will honor the signature of his/her Attorney in Fact (Agent) and be legally bound by it, just as if the Principal had been there and signed it. Do not confuse the term "Attorney in Fact" with Attorney at Law; your POA agent does not have to be a lawyer. Frequently the Principal designates his or her spouse as the Agent; often each spouse gives a POA to the other. But the Agent need not be a spouse. You might choose to give a POA to a friend, lawyer, broker, banker, or accountant, who would be more readily available and perhaps more experienced in a particular business matter, or to a parent or an adult child.