A Power of Attorney form refers to a lawful certificate that confirms the formation of a relationship among two persons, called an agent and a principal.
This document allows the principal to authorize an agent to work on his behalf.
There are many kinds of such forms.
It may be general, where the agent can act on behalf of the principal for any matter, or it can be specific, allowing the agent to act on the part of the principal for certain predefined businesses only.
You'll need to sign a general Power of Attorney form when you authorize an attorney to fully take responsibility of acting on your behalf and represent you in all legal matters which may pertain to your property or finances or another legal matter pending against you..
The principal here refers to the appointing person.
The principal needs to complete a prescribed form and answer the questioned contained therein.
Having filled the form, the principal needs to sign that form in the presence of a witness.
Any capable person can act as a witness for the signing of the said form.
However, when the form is required to be submitted to an organization or a department, it has to be witnessed by a lawyer, notary public, commissioner or justice of peace.
The form needed for preparing a legally valid Power of Attorney is generally available at law libraries or statute books.
In case you are unable to get the requisite from these two sources, your best bet would be to approach a lawyer.
After filling up the form, the principal is required to sign it in the presence of a notary public.
In certain states it is mandatory to sign the form in the presence of two witnesses.
Sometimes, financial institutions such as banks may provide their especially designed form for covering the transactions that involve them.
For instance, if you wanted to give your authority to another person for operating your bank account, you should inquire your banker if they have their own design form with similar functions.
Likewise, if you want to give authority to an agent to deal with your real estate, the agent needs to file a copy of that in the records of local land office.
A Power of Attorney form should necessarily contain the following information: - The name and address of the principal - Principal's social security number - The duration of time for its validity - It should clearly state the power resting with the agent - Date and signature For matters concerning estate tax, it should include the name of the deceased, date of his/her death and authorization of the agent.