Making Changes to Your Power of Attorney to Comply with New Federal Laws

If your state has accepted new federal rules, you may need to revise your current Power of Attorney paperwork.

Among the states that have lately approved the Universal Power of Attorney Act are Indiana, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, Maine, and Virginia. (UPOAA). The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws developed and supported the UPOAA. This legislation aims to bring uniformity to the vastly disparate state laws governing Powers of Attorney, as well as to provide greater protections against agent misuse of power. Changes in state law resulting from the passing of the UPOAA apply to Powers of Attorney signed previous to the legislation’s enactment. The following are some of the main changes that impact your Power of Attorney if your state recently approved the UPOAA:

The ability to manage your financial assets does not include the ability to alter the specified recipient, if any, on the account. To give your representative the authority to alter recipient names, the authority must be expressly mentioned in your Power of Attorney.
You can instruct your representative to use your money to care for family members or others you owe assistance to.
Unless expressly mentioned in your Power of Attorney, your representative will have no authority to administer, establish, modify, or terminate any trust on your account.
Unless otherwise specified, you do not have the right to relinquish or surrender your stake in a bequest, pension, insurance policy, or other asset.
If you already have trust duties, your representative will not immediately be able to manage them on your account. This authority must be explicitly addressed in your authority of Attorney.
Unless explicitly mentioned otherwise in your Power of Attorney, a Power of Attorney is enduring (remains effective even if you become incapacitated or lack the mental capacity to comprehend and manage your money and personal matters).
Legislation pertaining to the UPOAA is presently being considered in Maryland, New Jersey, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and it is expected to go into action shortly.

If you discover that any of the above changes pertain to your previously written Power of Attorney and you want to revise it now, you can rescind it and establish a new Power of Attorney that conforms with state law.