Power of Attorney

Durability

A power of attorney is a legal document in which you (the principal) authorizes someone (the agent) to engage in financial transactions for you. This is known as a financial power of attorney. In Virginia, this can be durable or non-durable. Durable means it is effective when you are incapable of doing so on your own. Power of attorneys in Virginia is automatically made durable unless stated so otherwise.

The Powers Granted in Power of Attorney

Because you are giving another person the power to engage in transactions for you, it’s important to choose someone you fully trust. You can specify their role as broad or as specific as you would like. You can limit your agent to specific transactions such as to sign for a property, or to pay bills only or to engage in any type of transactions. That is up to you to determine the extent of the power of attorney that you grant to another person. The more specific you are including about their right to change beneficiaries, change rights of survivorship, create, revoke or terminate a living trust or to delegate power under the POA all are important factors to consider when creating this important legal document.

Requirements for a Power of Attorney

To draft a power of attorney in Virginia, you must be 18 years of age and able to understand what you are doing fully. Once you sign it, this document becomes valid. This document doesn’t have to be notarized and/or witnessed.

Revocation

At some point, you may decide you no longer need a power of. When this occurs, you can revoke the original power of attorney document. You can only do this, however, if you are mentally competent to do so. If you think that you will ever want to amend or change a POA, you will need to place your revocation in writing and deliver it to the agent as proof of this change.