The focus here is the “Durable Power of Attorney.” However, our discussion begins with the “power of attorney.”

A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document giving one person (the agent or attorney-in-fact) the power to act for another person (the principal). The agent can have broad legal authority or limited authority to make legal decisions about the principal’s property, finances, or medical care. The power of attorney is frequently used in the event of a principal’s illness or disability, or when the principal cannot be present to sign necessary legal documents for financial transactions.

There are more than one kind of power of attorney. There are four kinds. They are:

General Power of Attorney. In this situation, the agent can perform almost any act as the principal, such as opening financial accounts and managing personal finances. A general power of attorney arrangement is terminated when the principal becomes incapacitated, revokes the power of attorney, or dies.

Durable Power of Attorney. This arrangement designates another person to act on the principal’s behalf and includes a durable clause that maintains the power of attorney after the principal becomes incapacitated.

Special or Limited Power of Attorney. In this instance, the agent has specific powers limited to a certain area. An example is a power of attorney that grants the agent authority to sell a home or other piece of real estate.

Springing Durable Power of Attorney. In some states, a “springing” power of attorney is available and becomes effective when a specified event occurs such as when the principal becomes incapacitated.

A power of attorney can end for a number of reasons, such as when the principal dies, the principal revokes it, a court invalidates it, the principal divorces their spouse, who happens to be the agent, or the agent can no longer carry out the outlined responsibilities.

Conventional POAs lapse when the creator becomes incapacitated, but a “durable POA” remains in force to enable the agent to manage the creator’s affairs, and a “springing POA” comes into effect only if and when the creator of the POA becomes incapacitated. A medical or healthcare POA enables an agent to make medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person.

The durable power of attorney (DPOA) remains in control of certain legal, property or financial matters specifically spelled out in the agreement, even after the principal becomes mentally incapacitated. While a DPOA can pay medical bills on behalf of the principal, the durable agent cannot make decisions related to the principal’s health (e.g., taking the principal off life support is not up to a DPOA).

The principal can sign a durable power of attorney for health care, or healthcare power of attorney, if he wants an agent to have the power to make health-related decisions. This document also called a healthcare proxy, outlines the principal’s consent to give the agent POA privileges in the event of an unfortunate medical condition. The durable POA for healthcare is legally bound to oversee medical care decisions on behalf of the principal.

Another type of DPOA is the durable power of attorney for finances, or simply a financial power of attorney is a document that allows an agent to manage the business and financial affairs of the principal, such as signing checks, filing tax returns, mailing and depositing Social Security checks or managing investment accounts, in the event, the latter becomes unable to understand or make decisions. To the extent of what the agreement spells out as the agent’s responsibility, the agent must carry out the principal’s wishes to the best of his ability.

When the agent acts on behalf of the principal by making investment decisions through the broker or medical decisions through the healthcare professional, both institutions would ask to see the DPOA. Although the DPOA for both medical and financial matters can be one document, it is good to have separate DPOA for healthcare and finances. Since the DPOA for healthcare will have the principal’s personal medical information, it would be inappropriate for the broker to have it, and the medical professionals do not need to know the financial status of the patient either.



The conditions for which a durable POA may become active are set up in a document called the springing power of attorney. The springing POA defines the kind of event or level of incapacitation that should occur before the DPOA springs into effect. A power of attorney can remain dormant until a negative health occurrence activates it to a DPOA.