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What is the power of an attorney? How do I get a power of attorney?Two-part question.What is a power of attorney?A power of attorney (“POA”) is an written instrument in which one person, the “principal,” gives authority(ies) to another person(s), the “agent,” to transact certain matters in the principal’s stead. The authorities are called the “powers”; hence, the name of the instrument, “power of attorney.”The powers the principal grants his/her agent can be broad or limited, depending on the purpose of the power of attorney. A power of attorney for real property transactions may permit the agent to sign for the principal only papers involving a purchase or sale of real property. Other powers of attorney can delegate to an agent many more powers than the one just described.Powers of attorney may be durable (“DPOA”), meaning the instruments remain valid even if the principal is deemed incapacitated. For that reason, durable (and medical, “MPOA”) powers of attorney are an important part of good estate planning: absent a DPOA and/or an MPOA, if principal is deemed incapacitated no one would be in place to transact matters on principal’s behalf including making health care decisions. Someone would have to petition the probate court for appointment of a conservator and guardian to transact such matters.Take it from someone who knows, obtaining appointment of conservators and guardians is a major and expensive hassle that is entirely avoidable if good powers of attorney are in place.Finally, the principal can revoke a power of attorney at any time. When the principal of a POA dies, the POA diesHow do I get a power of attorney?I will assume you would be the principal and would want to appoint an agent under a POA to act in your stead.As with so many questions involving law, the answer depends. Much depends also on whether entities will honor the POA delivered to them.If you need an agent to transact on real property, your state may have a standard real estate power of attorney form your Realtor can have you complete and execute to appoint your agent. These forms have been approved and are commonly used if a party to a closing, etc., is unable to attend.There are power of attorney forms for many purposes that can be purchased from stores which sell legal forms or found in form books in law libraries, or downloaded from the internet, and completed, executed and have notarized. But one is not assured the entity to which agent delivers the POA will honor it. Even if one delivers a proper POA to an entity, the entity is under no obligation to honor it.The best bet to maximize the likelihood a POA will be honored is to cough up the money and have a qualified attorney draw it up. You will be well assured the attorney knows the law and will prepare a proper POA that conforms to state law. If an entity does not honor the instrument, simply have the entity call the attorney who prepared it. You would not have that backup if you DIY your POA and it is not honored.

Win the lottery.Seriously. Elder care costs beaucoup bucks.Even if you build that Mother-in-law suite (and I've seen some nice ones) and your parent(s) come live in your house, there's still costs.If your parent(s) are living on Social Security and have no real savings (which is sometimes smartest- we'll see why soon) this is bare subsistence living. Parents are going to need Medicare Part B insurance (which is what helps pay the co-pays and extra costs Medicare doesn't cover), some kind of prescription coverage (there are "normal" medications for the elderly which can cost $30.00 a day- the average cost of a prescription for the elderly is $28/month. Add that up, because most elders are on at least three medications: A hypotensive, a blood thinner and an anticholerigenic. Eeek!) Then there's normal living expenses; your folks are NOT going to want to live on your dime. They will want to pay their own way. Get used to it.In-home caregivers. Well, you both work, right? Who's going to be there to help while you're both at work? Bright idea! Get a caregiver to come in a few hours every day, help Mom get showered and dressed, maybe make sure she gets her meds and eats a good lunch. Here's the deal: You can get a private caregiver and negotiate the fee and have not much idea who this person is and what they are capable of doing (good and bad), or, you can pay a service, which provides some training, does a background check and charges you nearly twice as much as they pay the caregiver. Up to you, but, again, you'll need it.Rehabilitation. It's going to happen, most likely; your Mom will fall and break her hip, your Dad will sit in that damned recliner so long his ankles swell to three times their size and he goes septic- it's going to happen, most likely. That means a stay at a rehabilitation center. If you're lucky, Medicare will pick up the entire tab- if you're very, very lucky. If not, well, Medicare provides 100 days of hospital and rehabilitative care (skilled care) per year. However, after 30 days, they institute a co-pay. Now if you have a MediGap insurance, that will pick up the co-pay (think Blue Cross, for instance) you're good, but if you've not been paying for that MediGap insurance, Mom's on her own for that co-pay. At my facility, that co-pay is $200.00 a day. Average rehab stay at my facility? 8 weeks. Do the math.Bottom line, is, getting old costs a significant amount of money.Which is why it is sometimes in your financial interest for your folks to be poor rather than well-off. Not cat food poor, but just making it. Why? Because if further care is needed- in home care or skilled care- if Mom's income is over $2000.00 per month, she does not usually qualify for Medicaid, which is for long-term assistance. Now, there's this thing called a Miller's Trust, which can help, but, trust me, the entanglements that go into trying to spend down and get rid of property in order to qualify for Medicaid are high-stress nightmares. Every cent comes into play- including the value of your childhood home if Mom still owns it. If your folks aren't very well-off, indeed, it's maybe better for them to be barely making it.A month's stay in my facility private pay is $6,000.00. Average Residential stay? 9 years. Do the math.The time to sit down with your folks and discuss "Advanced Directives" is as soon as possible. Everyone who works in long-term care swears they will never, ever be placed in one themselves- they refuse the idea- they'll kill themselves, first. But what they don't realize is, long-term care doesn't usually happen gradually enough to employ any ideas of suicide. Instead, Mom has a stroke, EMTs get her to the hospital, the hospital treats what they can and send her for rehab (think 3 months) but Mom is still wheelchair bound, a Hoyer lift for transfers, on a pureed diet, nectar thick liquids to reduce the risk of aspiration, doesn't speak well, and has absolutely lost her will to live but is still here, breathing. You cannot take care of her on your own at home- she needs skilled care. And, like that, she's in long-term care. That's how it happens, usually. From here, what if she gets pneumonia, or strokes again, or refuses to eat- what does SHE want done? Because if we do not have those instructions written in proper legal form, she's getting treated each and every time with everything we've got- including feeding tubes. That's the law. And we can keep her alive a long, long time. Think 9 years. Does she want that? Download the forms for your state, get it in writing, have a copy placed with her doctor and keep a copy yourselves. You'll need it.At the same time, you should discuss a "Durable Power of Attorney", which is for medical care decisions, and a Power of Attorney for financial decisions. These only come into play if Mom or Dad needs your help with these things- and here's the kicker for your reluctant parents: These documents can be rescinded at any time. If your folks "get better" and don't think you should be messing about in their finances, they can rescind the POA just like that. Most don't; most are happy for the belt-and-suspenders approach, but if they're reluctant, knowing they are not helpless to you might give them the impetus to give you POA.Last but never least, treasure every day. Get the recipes you want, learn your family history, record them reading to your grandchildren, take lots of pictures, feed them all the ice cream they want (okay, that one's probably not a good idea, but the thought is right) and never miss a chance to say I love you, because, when they're gone, they're really and truly gone.

Power of Attorney forms have long been available for purchase at stationary and office supply stores , to my personal knowledge since the late 1960’s.They are fill in the blank forms interspersed with legalese but even in college you could figure out what they were saying.With the advent of the internet, you can download the forms often for free.There are macros for word processors that have been available since word processing became available roughly 1980 .If you need to get a poa signed and none of those are available, the back of a napkin in a bar will suffice as it will for a will.Your question was how to tell if an amateur wrote it. I would look for the lack of specificity, duration in the terms . It might still be effective though