GUIDE · POWER OF ATTORNEY

Acting as power of attorney

Your duties, the boundaries you must not cross, and the records that protect you when questions come later.

1. What you are holding

A power of attorney (POA) lets one person — the principal — authorize another — the attorney-in-fact or agent — to act on their behalf. A durable POA keeps working after the principal loses capacity, which is usually why families set one up. A springing POA only activates on a defined event, typically a physician's determination of incapacity.

Three practical consequences follow from the document:

The powers come from the document, not from you. If the POA doesn't grant a power — selling real estate, making gifts, changing beneficiaries — you don't have it.
You act only for the principal's benefit. The moment you use the authority for your own benefit, you are in the most-cited category of elder financial abuse.
You serve at the principal's pleasure while they have capacity — and you answer to their family, a court, or adult protective services when they don't.

2. The duties that always apply

Loyalty: the principal's interest first, always. No self-dealing, no borrowing, no "I'll pay it back."
Prudence: handle money the way a careful person would handle their own. Keep money in insured accounts; don't speculate.
Segregation: the principal's money never mixes with yours. A joint account "for convenience" is where clean records go to die.
Information: keep the principal (while capable) and other authorized family members reasonably informed.
Accurate records: in nearly every state, you must be able to produce a record of receipts, disbursements, and actions on request. This is the duty people fail most often — not by stealing, but by not writing things down.

3. The records that protect you

Assume that everything you do will someday be reviewed by someone who was not there: a sibling, a guardian successor, a court examiner. The records that consistently protect agents:

A transaction log — date, amount, payee, account, and one line of purpose. "Paid $2,140 to Riverside Dental for Mom's bridge" survives scrutiny; "check #1141" does not.
An annual summary of money in, money out, and remaining balances, shared with the principal and key family members while things are calm. Silence breeds suspicion; routine transparency prevents it.
Decision notes for judgment calls — why the house was winterized, why the annuity was not cashed. A dated paragraph written at the time is worth ten written from memory.
The document trail — the signed POA itself, any physician's incapacity determination for springing POAs, and copies of everything you sign as agent (always noting "as attorney-in-fact for [principal]"; never sign in a way that makes you personally liable).

The POA product exists for exactly this: a transaction ledger, a decision log, a timeline of everything that happened, and a one-click annual summary PDF.

4. Boundaries: where attorneys get into trouble

Gifts to yourself or family. Most POAs permit only limited customary gifts; anything more usually needs explicit language or court approval.
Changing beneficiaries on accounts, or rewriting the principal's estate plan "for fairness." Presumptively invalid almost everywhere.
Paying yourself vaguely. Any compensation should follow the document's terms or state law, in recorded, regular amounts.
Cash and ATM patterns. Reviewers treat recurring cash withdrawals as the leading indicator of abuse. Pay by traceable means wherever possible.
Continuing after the POA ends. Using the authority after revocation or death can convert an innocent act into personal liability. Institutions can also be slow — and their good-faith reliance generally does not protect you.

5. Revocation, suspension, and the end of the role

A POA ends when the principal revokes it (in writing, while capable), when a court suspends it, on divorce in some states (for a spouse-agent), and always at the principal's death. When that happens:

Notify, in writing, every bank and institution where you used the authority.
Retrieve or destroy remaining blank checks and close or convert access per the court's direction.
Final accounting: produce a last summary of everything received and paid, and keep your full records for years afterward — challenges arrive late.

Keep the revocation itself with your records. If the POA was registered with any institution, file the revocation there too.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. POA powers and duties vary by state and change over time — confirm specifics with a qualified professional.

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