Power of Attorney Types Explained

• General POA — agent can handle broad financial matters. Expires at incapacity.
• Durable POA — same broad powers but survives incapacity. The default for estate planning.
• Limited (Special) POA — narrow scope: sign on one transaction (a home closing, a vehicle title, a bank account).
• Springing POA — only takes effect when a triggering event occurs, typically incapacity certified by a physician.
• Healthcare (Medical) POA — agent makes medical decisions when you can\'t. Pair with a living will.
• Financial POA — broader money powers than a general, often durable.

A non-durable POA terminates the moment you become incapacitated — exactly when you most need someone to act for you. "Durable" means the POA remains effective through incapacity. Unless you have a specific reason to use a non-durable POA, make yours durable.

• Forgetting to grant gift-giving authority (needed for Medicaid planning)
• Omitting retirement account authority (IRAs and 401(k)s need specific grants)
• Leaving out digital-asset authority (email, crypto, cloud accounts)
• Using "General POA" language on a bank form that requires specific language
• Naming an agent with no successor
• Failing to update after a divorce

The agent (called an "attorney-in-fact") doesn\'t need to be an actual attorney. Pick someone financially competent, geographically available if your affairs are local, and someone you trust with a blank check. Always name at least one successor.

Separate the financial and healthcare agents if the ideal person differs — the bossy one for money, the warm one for medical.

Revoke in writing, signed and ideally notarized. Deliver the revocation to the former agent and to any institution that has the old POA on file (banks, brokerages, title companies). Third parties relying in good faith on the old POA before they learn of revocation are protected — which is why written notice to them matters.