The power of attorney is an essential component of estate planning. It’s a legal document allowing you to appoint someone as your attorney-in-fact or agent. As your attorney-in-fact, they are responsible for acting and making decisions on your behalf when you can’t do so.
There’s no rule prohibiting multiple powers of attorney. In some cases, designating more than one person for the role may help you create a more practical estate plan.
Benefits of multiple attorneys-in-fact
Having more than one power of attorney offers benefits such as:
- Increased focus on the role: Dividing the duties of your agents means they each have a lighter load and can better focus on their respective roles and responsibilities.
- Established safety net: Appointing a secondary attorney-in-fact gives you a safety net or someone you can rely on in cases where your primary attorney-in-fact can’t perform their duties.
- Specialized skills or prowess: Having multiple attorneys-in-fact allows you to pick the best person for the role based on their skills or prowess.
If two or more people share power of attorney, it is better to appoint someone as the lead or primary attorney-in-fact. This may help minimize disagreements between your agents or break stalemates during decision-making.
Medical and financial powers of attorney
There are usually two kinds of power of attorney included in estate planning. These are:
- Medical power of attorney: Also known as the healthcare power of attorney, this authorizes your appointed agent to make health-related decisions for you and to execute any advance healthcare directives you left behind.
- Financial power of attorney: This allows you to name a person or persons to oversee your finances and entire estate. If you have a trust, your chosen agent works with your trustee to manage any financial assets outside your trust account.
Seek guidance for drafting legal documents
If you want more than one person with power of attorney, you will need to create separate documents for each person. It’s also a good idea to word the documents precisely and to outline each person’s responsibilities clearly. An estate planning attorney can assist you in drafting your power of attorney documents according to your specific needs and future plans.
