Powers of Attorney

A power of attorney (POA) is a legal record conferring one individual (called the agent or attorney-in-fact) the power to act on behalf of another person (called the principal). The agent is not necessarily an attorney. He or she could just be a friend or a family member.

The agent may be given either broad or limited legal authority to make legal decisions about the principal’s finances, property, or health care. This type of document is frequently used in the event of an illness or disability, or when the principal cannot be present to sign legal documents for financial negotiations.

There are two main types of POAs:

• general, in which the agent acts on behalf of the principal in all matters (signing checks, handling bank accounts, selling property and assets, etc.);
• limited, which gives the agent the power to act on behalf of the principal only in specific matters (e.g. managing the principal’s retirement accounts). A limited power of attorney may also be limited to a specific period of time, for instance if the principal will be out of the country for, let’s say, two years.

Whether you need to translate a general POA or a limited POA, you can count on our translation services.