Statutory Durable Power Of Attorney: Fill & Download for Free

There are different types of power of attorney document. If the power of attorney document is properly drafted, executed, witnessed and notarized, and it empowers the agent (also called “attorney-in-fact”) to conduct banking transaction on behalf of the principal (a company officer or other individual authorized to handle banking transactions), then there shouldn’t be a problem.However, banks can reject a power of attorney and, in Florida, there is a statutory procedure in place to enforce a properly drafted POA.Can a Bank Reject my Durable Power of Attorney?

A “power of attorney” is a form of agency, typically made via a statutory form. The agent is the “attorney-in-fact.”¹ This means the agent has the power to act on behalf of the maker or principal, and to do any thing (so long as it is within the scope of the power) that the maker could do. I could grant a power of attorney to my wife, for instance, allowing her to sell real estate, and with that power she could sign over my interest in our property without the necessity of my doing anything; otherwise the Statute of Frauds and the concept of entireties would prevent the property being transferred without my signature on the deed.The attorney-in-fact has what is called a fiduciary responsibility to the principal. If my wife sold the house using the power in the above hypothetical, she would be bound to use the money in a way generally consistent with my interests and above her own. Failure to exercise that duty in good faith can result in civil liability.Powers of attorney are not assignable by default. The agent cannot redesignate a different attorney-in-fact unless the terms of the power explicitly allow this. However, as long as the original agent is competent, the power may be revoked and/or a new power given to another person.²So if the questioner is the maker and their father is attorney-in-fact, and wishes to appoint someone else to be attorney-in-fact in his stead, that may not be possible. But if the questioner is the agent and the father is the principal, the father may at any time (so long as he is competent) give a new power to someone else. There is no general rule that only one person may hold power of attorney. (I should not think it a terribly good idea to appoint multiple agents, as disputes between them end up in the courts, but it is nonetheless possible.)Notes:¹ This term is also sometimes spelled without the hyphens; contrast the related term “attorney at law” which once upon a time meant someone authorized to be a legal agent in court proceedings. “Attorney” may originally have meant “champion” and comes from Old French atorné, past participle of atorner ‘assign,’ from a(d) ‘toward’ + torner ‘turn.’² A power of attorney, unless specified as ‘durable’, actually expires on the disability or incompetency of the maker. A ‘durable’ power of attorney is a power that persists even if the maker becomes incompetent. All powers of attorney expire at the death of the maker, however, and at that point the matter becomes one of probate law.

Have their estate planning documents in order. I ordinarily provide clients with Wills, Declarations of Guardian, Appointments of Agent for Disposition, Statutory Durable Powers of Attorney, Medical Powers of Attorney, HIPAA Authorizations, Directives to Physicians, and Anatomical Gift documents. One can also go the revocable living trust route for estate planning.