A Financial Power of Attorney is an instrument that allows you to designate Agents to act on your behalf concerning financial affairs, usually if you are incapacitated and can no longer make those choices or decisions. It is only possible to designate a Financial Power of Attorney while you still have capacity.

There are different types of Financial Powers of Attorney. A Financial Power of Attorney can take effect immediately or can take effect upon a person’s incapacity. A Financial Power of Attorney that takes effect upon a person’s incapacity is referred to as a Springing Power of Attorney. This means your Agent would only gain control over your finances once you are deemed incapacitated. If your Financial Power of Attorney is not springing, your designated Agent can act concurrently with you even when you still have capacity.

Whether a Financial Power of Attorney is a Springing Power of Attorney or not, the creator can always amend or revoke the Financial Power of Attorney so long as they are still competent.

An Advance Health Care Directive only addresses issues concerning Health Care and Personal Care decisions. A Financial Power of Attorney is designed to assist with your finances and Assets.

In the event of incapacity, a Financial Power of Attorney can become an extremely useful part of one’s Estate Plan to assist with the management and utilization of Assets or accounts that have not been placed into your Trust. Ideally, a Co-Trustee or Successor Trustee can handle your finances, but this is only true so long as they are all inside your Trust. If an Asset or account has not been retitled to your Trust, they have no power to act.