Power of Attorney Considerations

If you have not already done so, you may want to consider empowering someone to act on your behalf with regard to your assets. Also, you will want to consider the extent and conditions of the authority you may confer. Some things you may want to consider when creating a Power of Attorney document are:

• Some account custodians provide a standardized POA document that may be used in lieu of a custom document created by an attorney.
• If you are using a custom document, it will be subject to the interpretation of the custodian to which it is presented and applicable state statutes.

Note that many states, including North Carolina, have recently revised their laws governing the interpretation and application of Power of Attorney documents. For this and other reasons, if you already have POA documents, it would be a good idea to review them to determine if they need to be updated.