Your Durable General Power of Attorney

A standard feature of the Revocable Living Trust Package or Living Estate Package is the Durable General Power of Attorney. This document details determination of your Attorney-in-Fact: an entrusted woman or man to manage financial affairs (e.g. signing checks) in the case you are incompetent (unable to do so yourself). Absent this appointment, financial and business affairs can screech to a stop. In anticipation of accident or illness that could put one temporarily out of commission, the prudent estate planner will have in place a Durable General Power of Attorney.

Generally one’s spouse would be the first-in-line Attorney-in-Fact. A successor Attorney-in-Fact is designated in the event your first choice is unable to perform. Within this document, you also nominate a Conservator; conservatorship (which entails a broader application) could be required due to permanent or prolonged incapacitation.

The Durable General Power of Attorney [diligently authored by your wills and trusts attorney] is revocable; the rights granted to one’s attorney-in-fact aren’t vested unless you’re “incompetent” subject to the instrument’s restrictive definition.