A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document giving one person (the agent or attorney at fact) the power to act for another person (the principal). The agent can have broad legal authority or limited authority to make legal decisions about the principal’s property, finances, or medical care. The power of attorney is frequently used in the event of a principal’s illness or disability, or when the principal can’t be present to sign necessary legal documents for financial transactions.

A power of attorney can end for a number of reasons, such as when the principal dies, the principal revokes it, a court invalidates it, the principal divorces their spouse, who happens to be the agent, or the agent can no longer carry out the outlined responsibilities.

The primary difference between the Legal Representative (“PR”) and the person appointed under a power of attorney the attorney in fact (the “POA”) is that the PR is administering the estate after the person has passed away and the POA is caring for the person while they are incapacitated, but still living.  POA powers terminate upon death.

Legal Representative

•  The PR is responsible for securing the Last will and testimony of the decedent (if there is one) and distributing the decedent’s property according to the terms of the Will. There are usually bills to pay, a tax return to file, personal belongings to gather and other items that need to be addressed. In some cases, a probate proceeding may be necessary.  The PR would be responsible for getting this proceeding filed and completed (with the assistance of an attorney).

Attorney in Fact

•  The POA receives power to act on behalf of the incapacitated person when the person is determined to be incapacitated under the terms of the power of attorney document.  Typically, this is when a determination is made by at least one medical professional that person can no longer care for themselves.
• The POA is charged with taking care of the incapacitated person’s financial needs, health and welfare needs and other day-to-day to issues.  For example, a POA may pay bills, communicate with the doctors and make decisions about the incapacitated person is going to be cared for.
•  Legally, it probably makes no difference whether it is the same person who is POA and PR.  However, practically, many times the other spouse is the person chosen to be both the POA and then the PR.  A person who has acted as the POA and then acts as the PR has a bit of an advantage because they already have experience with the decedent’s estate.

ANSWER 3.Power of Attorney (POA) is all about giving the right to act on your behalf to a trusted friend or family member. A Power of Attorney allows the holder of the POA to take clearly defined actions and decisions on behalf of the donor in this case. The person who gives the power of attorney (POA) is known as the donor while the person who gets the POA is called the holder. But there are some precautions you need to take while signing the POA agreement and ensure that your interests are fully protected. Let us look at it entirely from the point of view of the donor. Let us focus on things to know about power of attorney and the power of attorney rights and limitations. Above all, there are some basic rules you need to follow irrespective of whether you are giving the power of attorney to a family member or to a trusted friend.

8 points to keep in mind when giving power of attorney

1.First and foremost understand the difference between Letter of Authority and Power of Attorney. The LOA is good for small tasks but for more important tasks that involve larger amounts of money or asset values, it is always better to execute a Power of Attorney as the rights and duties are more enforceable in case of POA.

2.Ensure that the Power of Attorney is duly registered and the stamp duty prescribed by the state where the POA is executed has been paid. The legal jurisdiction should be the place where the POA is executed and the stamp duty is paid. An unregistered POA is like an LOA and is not enforceable in a court of law.

3.Signatures and photographs of the principal and power agent must be affixed. This can be a useful source of information in case any of the transactions are disputed at a future date or if the POA goes to a legal recourse.

4.The holder of the POA should first check whether the principal or the donor of the POA has a valid title to the property and that his/her name is reflected as owner in government revenue records. Also, before accepting the POA he must check that the no-encumbrance certificate is obtained.

5.The rights and obligations of the principal and the POA holder should be clearly laid out including decisions like leasing the property, hypothecating the property, selling the property etc. For availing loans based on a POA, check whether the power agent has the authority to sign loan documents and can create an equitable mortgage in favour of banks/financial institutions on behalf of the principal.

6.Ensure that as on the date of execution of any document based on the POA, the POA is in force and the principal is alive. Otherwise the POA is void ab initio. Normally, POAs that are pre dated or post dated are not acceptable at the time of registration of the POA with the concerned authorities.

7.If the POA is being executed abroad, ensure that it is either notarised or signed before Indian Consulate officials and then duly adjudicated within 120 days from the date of execution of the said POA. This is important since NRIs are those who normally give POAs to operate their local bank account and demat cum online trading account.

8.Last but not the least, make it a point to verify the availability of the original duly registered GPA (General Power of Attorney). You need to be clear that the rights are clear and unfettered. You must also check whether the description of the property (schedule of property) is in order.

ANSWER 4. Yes, we can give power of attorney online. If you want to make a  Power of Attorney deed online you can do it easily sitting in your home and in a minimum cost. 

The process are given below:

Select your State and start Preparing your Power of Attorney document

Fill the form and make payment online

Print the document and register it

So simple! No hassles of finding a lawyer, no time waste, no tensions of finding the right clauses to include in the document  and everything done so fast within a few minutes. That is the best part about making an online document.

The documents required for power of attorney are;

An Adhar Card or Voter ID Card or Passport for address proof and identity proof.