By the Estate Planning Attorneys at Garg & Associates, PC, serving The Woodlands, Spring, Houston, Conroe, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, Cypress, Huntsville, Westchase, Southwest, Sugar Land, West Oaks, Alief, Memorial, River Oaks, Stafford, Katy, and Missouri City.

Statutory Durable Powers of Attorney

A Statutory Durable Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows an individual to grant an agent, called an attorney-in-fact, the authority to exercise power over his or her property and financial matters. By executing a valid Power of Attorney during your lifetime, you may appoint an agent to “step into your shoes” and carry out your affairs in the same capacity as you could personally. The legal requirements regarding content and execution are laid out by statute, and should be discussed in detail with the Estate Planning attorneys at Garg & Associates prior to implementation.

A common misconception is that a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney is in some way a testamentary document, such as a Last Will and Testament, that takes effect at death. It is important to note, however, that a Power of Attorney comes into effect during a person’s lifetime. You have a choice in deciding whether the document will become effective (i.e., whether your appointed attorney-in-fact will begin having the power you have granted) on the date the document is signed, or only upon your incapacity. If you choose to have the Power of Attorney become effective on the day it is signed, your agent will have the powers you have granted him or her immediately, and those powers will continue in effect through any period of incapacity on your part. If you decide to postpone the document’s effectiveness until your incapacity, the document will be valid on the date it is signed but will not spring into effect until you are unable to manage your own affairs.

As mentioned, a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney is typically very broad, in that it allows you to give your agent the power to conduct any business you could conduct yourself, such as handling your finances, business affairs, real estate transactions, asset allocations, and investment transactions. Under a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney, your attorney-in-fact may sign checks or legal documents on your behalf. He or she will have access to and control over your financial holdings to the same extent you would have personally. Understandably, great consideration and trust must go into the selection of the individual(s) you appoint to this role.

It is imperative to seek competent legal advice from the qualified Estate Planning attorneys at Garg & Associates prior to drafting and executing a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney. If the legal guidelines with regard to valid creation of a Power of Attorney are not followed, financial institutions may challenge the document as invalid and decline to honor it. Therefore it is very important to contact the attorneys at Garg & Associates to fully discuss the scope of Powers of Attorney, their use, and their proper creation.

Call Garg and Associates today at 281.475.4640 or complete our Contact Form and let us assist you with your wills and trusts.