Most people are not yet acquainted with the concept of the power of attorney. It might be something they read in some law novels, but they are yet to full grasp its implication. Well, here is s brief introduction. The term power of attorney can accurately be described as that legal way by which you can have someone act for or as you in a particular dealing. This is common in the business world where for a particular reason you might not be able to go ahead with a specific task and will therefore request that someone stand for or as you to see the dealing to completion. The power of attorney is legally recognized as the process by which this is done. If you are the one giving another the right to stand for you, you are legally called the ‘principal’ and the person you authorize to stand on your behalf is the ‘agent’. The agent reserves the right to act for you, even as far as signing crucial documents in your name. Living wills may be used, but they do not come into play until the principal has been declared by medical personnel to be totally hopeless. Hopeless in this case means that there is no possibility of the principal recovering from the sickness.
The use of the power of attorney loving will form are almost endless. In any case, once the form is effected, the agent can then make basic health decisions for the declarer – who is actually the one who needs the agent to handle affairs for him – and these health decisions vary. Hence, the agent will be in charge of the health and treatment affairs of the declarer when the need comes up. Lao he will have something to do with the needs that are not necessarily medical. These may include the financial needs and the management of the estates. The agent automatically takes these up when the declarer can no longer handle this himself.
These documents have a wide range of effects, just like the powers of attorney forms. For instance the declarer might make use of his living will to declare that they will not take pain medication when they become beset by terminal illnesses, or they may specify the kind of medication that they want to receive. Some might just skip all that stuff and direct that the agent be the one to handle all matters as it concerns their health.
There are different kinds of living wills that are available for the declarer to choose from. However, the declarer will have to take out the living will form while that are in a position to do so. Some other clauses may be added to the living will form as the declarer progresses and advances in age.
The various kinds of living will forms can now be accessed online form where they can be filled and submitted to the appropriate legal bodies for processing.
In the United Kingdom, it is totally acceptable for people to change their names. There are many reasons why people might go to such lengths to alter their names. A reason for this is they may not like the names they were given or they may simply be bored. There are many reasons why our parents would say they named us. Some people get named based on the current trend around before their birth, some others simply because the name sounded nice. Yet others got named just out of the ‘feeling’ the parent had at the time. Whatever the reason that is how you came about your personal name. It is your name, even though you had no active part in the naming ceremony apart from occasionally sucking your thumb. Some people may change their names for such trivial issues as the fact that they want to have names like their favorite celebrity.
I know that there are several other reasons why people would want to change their names. However I would like to address the processes involved in changing your names in the UK. A deed poll is often the bet for it. This is what is used in the UK to effect those name changes. These have even been in use since the year 1851. If you want to change your name or that of your child, there is a declaration you will have to make and it contains five simple paragraphs in your legal document.
Here are the statements:
• You must agree to severe all connections with your former name
• You will then assume total and complete use of your new name
• You will have a request embedded which will make everyone who will address you to call you by your new name.
• In cases were is can be applied, the Mr. or miss or otherwise will also me assumed.
You can change your names for as many times as you fancy.
There are different types of deed polls an I will go on to list them and explain them.
There is the adult deed poll. This is used for people who are over sixteen years of age and enables them to change their ages.
There is another aspect of the adult deed poll that concerns the gender title alone. This is open to people who are at least sixteen years old. This will redress and change the previous gender title of the bearer into something more acceptable.
There is also the child deed poll. It is the exclusive right for parents and guardians who wish to change the names of their young charge. This is for people below the ages of fifteen.
In the UK all British citizens are eligible to have their names changed. However for the child deed poll, the name change is required to be done by someone older. Adult deed polls can be done by the person concerned. This is provided the person is above sixteen years of age.
When you are granting someone the special privilege of having your power of attorney, you should be aware of the very high risk of the attorney in fact becoming a thorn in your flesh especially if he has criminal tendencies. The rules that apply in the other powers of attorney – as long as they are financially related – also will apply to your special power of attorney situation. Therefore you should be able to say that the person you select as your attorney in fact is trustworthy enough for you to leave handling things and you can go have a happy night’s rest. I am going to show you some examples of special powers of attorney and how they actually operate.
A Special power of attorney actually restricts the amount of leverage your attorney in fact will have over your financial matters. This is only used in certain well-defined situations. An example is when you want to buy a home and you are unable to complete the documentation due to some legal loopholes of which you are not allowed to sign up for the house. You can have a special power of attorney form drawn up for a time like that and ensure that your agent does the job for you, standing for you and making the purchase on the home, after which the ownership then reverts to you.
In this case, you did not exactly hand over all your financial details to the agent. Now compare the special power of attorney to the general power of attorney. The general power of attorney makes the agent have exclusive access to everywhere you have access to as well as it also makes the agent your whole person – he represents you totally. This means your whole financial activity is in the palms of your attorney in fact. To me this is a very dangerous document if there ever was one.
Usually, however, the general power of attorney is not used, unless in the case where it might take a ‘springing’ action. By springing, this is meant for those powers of attorney that are kept inactive until two medical personnel can testify that the principal is in on health condition to manage his financial affairs. Of course the medical personnel will have to testify under the penalty of perjury. If this is approved, the agent can then take over from the principal.
On the other hand, the special power of attorney is usually a quick acting one; taking effect after all documents leading to the transfer of power are signed. This document does not confer full authority to the agent and is used when you want the agent to handle a part of your affairs you are unable to do probably because you are too busy or because the task would be harder were you to accomplish it yourself. Hence, it is usually taken out for convenience purposes. Therefore I approve of it for your less pressing needs.
When compared the common power of attorney is quite different from the statutory power of attorney and it is provided by the laws as defined by the state. The legislatives acts also make provisions on how the forms are to be accepted and also remission on the part of the accepting party from any resulting liability as a result from accepting it. The fact that the statutory power of attorney can not always be relied upon is a problem.
Ellen and Jeff her husband came to my office looking confused and depressed. Two years ago Jeff had been diagnosed of having Alzheimer’s and he was fifty five years old. At this point it came into question his competency as regards running his business. It was really a very sad situation. Having the disease was bad enough but the fact that Jeff was on the verge of forgetting the names of his beloved children both under the ages of ten really compounded to the issue.
The couple has been my clients for the past eight years. On our first meeting I taught them the difference in a Recoverable Living trust and a will. We had talk about the best choice being living trust and the reason for this is that should they ever become invalid all their assets will be properly managed. The idea of spending money ion trust didn’t interest Jeff now for he believed that wasn’t going to be an invalid soon.
And as a result Jeff went along with the statutory power of attorney forms him and his wife should they ever become disabled and with the will too. I offer counsel that they can not rely on the statutory power of attorney for bigger financial institutions are beginning not to accept it. They understood the risk involved but were still willing to go along with it.
Alas! Here they were in my office because they had refused heed my counsel. The couple had always kept their money separate since they got married, the second marriage for both them. Ellen was denied asses to Jeff’s account and the reason the bank gave was that the account was old and they should open a new one. So the issue here was that if Jeff in the state of his ill health is capable of signing a document.
I informed them that my professional charges would be close to a thousand dollars if I must speak to the bank along with the other places Jeff s investment to honor and accept the document. And the charges would go up to five thousand dollars should we go to court to open an adult guardianship for Jeff. They will lose all the savings associated with will. And Ellen would be required to conduct a probate costing her at about five thousand dollars if Jeff dies.
I am always willing to advice all my clients to think about drafting trust rather than have a statutory power of attorney or a will. Doing this will definitely help you in avoiding the very expensive guardianship proceeding as was the case of Jeff and Ellen.
If you have been following this article, you would have picked up on the fact that there are different powers of attorney. Therefore, you will need to make the right choice of the one that will help you secure your financial and health situation. You should also know that the power of attorney gives someone else the power to ask in your place and oversee your business when you are not in a position to do so. When you know that you are having someone else handle your affairs, you will then realize the importance of having the right option in terms of the power of attorney form. Here are a few tips to help you in getting the right one out of your plentiful options:
1. Make sure you know the one you are looking for. There are many kinds of powers or attorney these days, and you need to be sure you have selected the right one to represent your needs. When you are selecting, take into consideration the types and the processes that go into their legalization. In groups there are such types as durable, the nondurable and the springing types. In legalizing them, there could be witnesses involved or alternatively no witnesses may be present. The power of attorney could be verbal or nonverbal also.
2. The non-durable type is a form of power of attorney that comes into effect the instant it is signed but works only for a short duration until its purpose is accomplished. For instance, the principal might want the agent to sell an apartment for him or her and the confer the power of attorney to the attorney in fact – agent and attorney in fact are one and the same thing, by the way – and after the deal is done, power reverts to the principal. This method is ideal when the principal is still having a grip on his establishment and simple wants the agent to assist him in a small matter.
3. Durable power of attorney on the other hand is used when the [power of attorney is usually complete and might last for a long time or is unpredictable as to duration. This means that the principal is probably suffered at terminal illness or is mentally incapacitated and cannot oversee the helm of affairs. What is then done is that the power of attorney is then handed over to a close friend or relative to the principal.
4. The springing power of attorney is by far the most acceptable. This only comes into effect when you have been certified incapable of making further business judgment based on their findings on your state of mental or physical health. Once such a bill of health is passed, the power of attorney ‘springs’ into action and confers authority to the attorney in fact.
Here’s a point you should consider if you are being conferred the power of attorney. Ensure that you have witnesses present if you are in doubt of the mental state of the principal. The principal, depending on his state of mental health might utter unintelligible things and they will need to be clarified with the help of the witnesses present.