Full Form of POA

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Full Form of POA - Power of Attorney

The full form of POA stands for Power of Attorney. It is a document that authorizes the holder to represent or act on behalf of the POA provider in affairs related to business, private, or other legal matters. The person granting the right or authorizing representation on his behalf is the grantor or principal to the POA. The person authorized to represent on the principal’s behalf is an attorney or agent.

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Purpose

A POA is a legal document in which an individual can specify who has the authority to make decisions on their behalf if a person is incapable of making decisions himself or in a situation in which he cannot represent as he is not a suitable person to represent. The authority or agent appointed to decide on the principal’s behalf is responsible and expected to make and take decisions for the principal’s benefit. The POA has multiple purposes as there are different types of POAs and all the POAs are for specified purposes.

Full Form of POA

Features

The following are the features:

Features-of-POA

#1 - Public Document

A power of attorney is a document that is notarized to make it a public document and be accepted. This POA, therefore, allows a natural person and the legal entity to designate a legal agent to represent on his behalf in any legal Acts. This document makes it clear that the agent is acting on behalf of the principal.

#2 - Unilateralism

Power of attorney is a document that has a distinct feature of unilateralism. It means the granting of a POA does not require the authorization of the person who receives it. Similarly, the person who grants the POA needs to provide his presence at the time of notary while granting the POA.

#3 - Simple

It is very simple to grant or create a POA, as the granter only is required to present himself before the notary and should be in full possession of their mental facilities and of legal age to grant a POA.

Importance

Now let us discuss the importance:

Power of attorney is a very important document for a person representing someone in any legal-related matters, as the agent or representative can only represent on behalf of the grantor or principal if he is the holder of legal power of attorney. Generally, people are not experts in every matter, whether related to business or personal matters. Therefore, it is required for an expert to guide or represent the principal. And without the POA, the agent cannot represent anyone. It gives the holder a legal right to represent the principal in various matters without which the principal has to represent himself.

Types

There are various types which can be created, but the main and popular types are discussed below:

Types-of-POA
  1. General:  A general power of attorney is a legal document that gives an agent the authority to handle all legally permissible matters on behalf of the principal. It may be the only POA the individual requires in most cases.
  2. Springing: A springing power of attorney is a POA that only occurs on an event or predefined condition. The principal created this document for his agent to act on if the predefined event occurs.
  3. Limited: A limited power of attorney is a special power of attorney, which is used for one-time transactions when the principal cannot complete them due to reasons out of his hands.
  4. Medical: A medical power of attorney is created to authorize a trusted agent to make important medical or health-related decisions if the principal cannot make them for themselves.
  5. Durable: The power of attorney does not expire upon the principal's death. It does not have any set period and immediately becomes effective upon the principal’s incapacitation.
  6. Non-Durable: TThis power of attorney is used only for a specified period and generally for a specified transaction. Once the transaction completes or the granter becomes incapable, the non-durable power of attorney ceases.

Advantages

  • It is easy to allow other persons to handle their cases with better experience and expertise.
  • It protects elderly clients, helps them make the correct decision, helps them, and takes the correct decisions that benefit them.
  • POA is preferred when a client is comfortable with the agent to appoint as the power of attorney holder.
  • The principal can either put power of attorney in place ahead of time or could revoke a power of attorney.
  • Through a power of attorney, a person gets liberty and relief that the matters would be handled with care as the agent appointed would have the significant and required expertise in the decisions to be taken.

Disadvantages

  • In POAs, there may be an increased risk of elderly abuse.
  • There may be cases where the agent appointed could be proven untrustworthy.
  • There are many situations where the agents holding POAs do not perform their respective tasks with such dedications, which may result in the principal's loss.
  • Most of the time, the agent is caught making wrong decisions and accepting bribes to make these wrong decisions.

Conclusion

A power of attorney is a legal document that gives the POA holder to make decisions on behalf of the grantor or principal. Therefore, the principal should appoint a trustworthy agent to help make correct decisions that could benefit the principal.