Estate & probate
Power of attorney
A financial power of attorney is a document authorising someone to act on your behalf in money matters while you are alive, typically continuing to operate if you become unable to act for yourself.
Also called financial power of attorney · durable power of attorney · POA
It is the document that prevents a court from having to appoint a guardian if you lose capacity. Without one, the people closest to you may have no authority to pay your bills, deal with your bank or manage your property, and obtaining that authority through the court is slow, public and expensive.
The scope is negotiable and worth deciding deliberately: whether it takes effect immediately or only on incapacity, what it covers, and whether the agent may make gifts or change beneficiary designations.
What it does not do
A power of attorney has no effect after death. It expires at the moment the executor’s role begins. It also does not cover medical decisions, which need a separate health care power of attorney, and institutions can and do refuse documents they consider too old or too vague.
This entry is a general explanation, not advice for your situation, and it deliberately avoids thresholds and figures, because those are the part most likely to be out of date. Reviewed August 27, 2026. If a decision turns on any of it, ring the office rather than relying on a page.
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From definition to your situation
Whether this applies to you is a different question.
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