What makes a Power of Attorney Durable?

I get asked the question of what makes a Power of Attorney, also knows as a POA Durable on a regular basis. First, a Power of Attorney is a document where a person ,called the Principal  authorizes another person, called the Attorney-in-Fact to act on the Principal’s behalf for financial transactions. In Florida, when a POA is not Durable then it is no longer effective if the Principal become incapacitated for any reason. This many times defeats the purpose of having a POA in my mind. POAs are an excellent way to allow a person’s family members or friends to make financial decisions for a Principal should the Principal ever become incapcitated. As an example, with dementia patients it is so helpful to the family to have a Durable POA in place prior to the dementia occuring so that they can assist the Principal with every day financial issues, decisions and bill payment. If we can help you with the preparation of a Durable Power of Attorney please feel free to contact us.