02 Jun How do I know if I need a power of attorney, and what kind?

Q. Someone said I should get a power of attorney but now I see there are different kinds. How are they different and how do I know if I need one?
— Unsure

A. Terrific question.

These are important documents for everyone to understand.

Powers of attorney can be incredibly useful, said Tom Szieber, a trusts and estates attorney with Aziz & Associates in Clifton and Summit.

He said they can allow their creator, called the “principal,” to permit an agent, called an “attorney-in-fact,” to carry out a litany of different tasks on their behalf.

Szieber said the scope of a power of attorney differs depending on whether the power of attorney is “general” or “limited.”

“A `General Power of Attorney’ grants broad authority to the attorney-in-fact to attend to legal, business, and banking/financial affairs for the principal,” said. “In contrast, a `Limited Power of Attorney’ grants only certain specific powers to the attorney-in-fact.”

Limited Powers of Attorney are common in real estate transactions, where a principal may grant an attorney-in-fact the power to execute documents related to the sale or purchase, he said.

The duration of the power of attorney depends on whether it is “durable” or “springing,” he said.

A “Durable Power of Attorney” becomes effective upon signing and remains so even should the principal become incapacitated, Szieber said, while a “Springing Power of Attorney” does not become operative upon signing, but rather only upon the incapacity of the principal, or in some cases, the occurrence of some other event.

“While an individual may not “need” a power of attorney in the sense that he or she may have the capacity to attend to his or her own affairs, a power of attorney may nevertheless be helpful where an individual has the inability to carry out transactions for other reasons — an example might be where an individual intends to close a real estate transaction but unexpectedly needs to travel on the scheduled closing date; he or she might grant a limited power of attorney to someone else to allow them to sign closing documents,” he said.

A person may also appoint an attorney-in-fact purely for convenience. For example, Szieber said, spouses may designate one another as their attorneys-in-fact so that they can transaction various forms of business for one another.

“Powers of attorney are commonly implemented as part of one’s overall estate plan with said individual’s will, trust, and health care directive,” he said.

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This story was originally published in June 2025.

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