Statutory Durable Power of Attorney
The third document that every Texan needs is a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney, also known as a Financial Power of Attorney. This document allows for the agent you have appointed to act on your behalf in making various financial decisions and actions.
A Statutory Durable Power of Attorney can only be used when you are living. At any time during your life, you can change your Power of Attorney or revoke your agents powers. Please contact your an attorney in your area on the proper procedures for terminating an agents powers.
Important Things to Consider and Decide:
In a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney, you need to decide who you would like to appoint as your agent to make financial decisions for you and manage your Estate. This position can be more than one individual but we suggest that it only be one. In the event you decide on more than one person to act as Co-Agents, you will need to decide if they can independently from one another, only act on a joint consensus, or by a majority vote. As you can probably predict, having Co-Agents can get messy. You will also need to decide on alternates in the event that individual(s) you have appointed first cannot serve or predeceases you. The person you have named as your alternate will become your agent. You will also need to decide who your next alternate would be in the event your second appointee cannot serve. While it is not necessary to have two alternate appointees, we recommend it.
The order of your appointees is important, as this is the pecking order in which an individual can serve. The only time the next person in line can serve as your new agent is when the person before them has predeceased you, can no longer serve due to a capacity of disability issue, or they have refused to serve and resigned.
Another thing to consider in your Statutory Durable Power of Attorney is which powers to grant to your agent. There is a list of powers that range from A-O, which vary from real estate matters, to banking and other financial institution transactions, tax matters, and many more. We recommend that if you do not have a preference to grant your agent all of the powers on the power of attorney. You do not want to find yourself in a situation that you need someone to act on your behalf for a power you did not grant.
You will also need to consider when you make your Statutory Durable Power of Attorney effective. There will be two options on your power of attorney that will determine its effective date. The first option is to make the power of attorney effective on the day you sign it, which would permit your appointee to act on your behalf immediately if they should need to. The second option is to make the power of attorney effective only upon a doctor declaring you incapacitated or disabled. For the second option, a doctors note would have to accompany the power of attorney stating that you are incapacitated or disabled, which would then permit your appointee to act on your behalf.
F.A.Q.’s
Why do I need a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney?
At some point in everyone’s life, we will all suffer from some form of incapacitation or disability that does not allow us to manage our finances. Having a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney allows for someone you trust and appointed to manage your assets and make financial decisions for you. Without a this type of Power of Attorney and if you find yourself in a position to not manage your assets, the Court will have to appoint a Guardian to manage your Estate. A Guardianship is a Court proceeding that appoints an individual to make personal and financial decisions for you. To understand more about Guardianships, please talk to an attorney in your area.
What is the difference between a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney and a Medical Power of Attorney?