Electronic Signature Legitimacy for General Power of Attorney in European Union

How to eSign a document: electronic signature legitimacy for General Power of Attorney in European Union

a general power of attorney is a document that enables someone to conduct business or make decisions on another person's behalf general powers of attorney also called financial powers of attorney can be very helpful for people who may be traveling or otherwise unavailable when a time-sensitive business matter emerges even if you are otherwise available powers of attorney can be useful and time-saving methods of empowering people with more experience or expertise to make critical financial decisions that would normally require your consent or signature let's take a look at these powerful documents to see when you might need one and what to keep in mind when creating one how do general powers of attorney work a general power of attorney involves one party called the principal designating another party usually called an agent to act on their behalf you may also hear an agent referred to as an attorney in fact despite this the agent doesn't have to be a lawyer who is sometimes called an attorney at law it should however be someone that the principal trusts and who understands the principal's desires and priorities a general power of attorney can identify when it will begin and crucially how long it will be effective for it can last for a fixed period of time or expire when a certain event occurs like the closing of a deal however if a general power of attorney does not specify an end date it will automatically come to an end as soon as the principal is incapacitated or unable to act on his or her behalf this limitation is a leftover of the historical origins of the area of law from which power of attorney emerged but in part because of changing medical technology that may extend the period of time for which a principal is incapacitated most states now have laws creating a separate concept a durable power of attorney that can endure through a principle's incapacity what should a general power of attorney contain apart from the selection of agents the most important decision in creating a general power of attorney is specifying which powers the agent will have general powers of attorney are general in the sense that a principal can empower an agent to do almost anything agents can buy and sell stocks sell and mortgage property make bank transfers and hire employees the decision of what powers to include should be based on both the principal's needs and the agent's abilities for example if a principal has a complex financial portfolio but has chosen an agent with more experience in real estate than securities a power of attorney can be structured not to delegate the ability to trade stocks among the few things that agents are generally not empowered to do are modify the document granting them their power this means an agent usually cannot unilaterally extend the duration of a power of attorney or name another person as an agent and although it may be possible for a principal to delegate power over some health care decisions to an agent it's probably advisable to choose another legal document known as an advance directive for this purpose this is because general powers of attorney automatically expire when the principal becomes incapacitated meaning that they might become ineffective right when they're needed most for eforms the world's biggest database of legal documents click or tap the link right here to see some sample general power of attorney forums and head to eforms.com for a more detailed explanation of the law in your state finally don't forget to subscribe for videos about durable powers of attorney and advanced directives the other types of documents mentioned in this video