How to Establish and Revoke Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is the legal power to act on behalf of another person in specified and agreed upon legal and/or financial matters. A power of attorney can be helpful if someone is unable to sign legal documents or wants to assign decisions about finances or healthcare over to someone else. Either way, establishing a power of attorney is a very big deal, so you want to make sure you know what you are doing.

Establishing Power of Attorney:

In North Carolina, it is required that principals (who is giving the power of attorney) sign a form that is found in the NC General Statures Chapter 32C, section 32C-3-301. This form has lists detailing different financial transactions that the principal can give someone else access to. If giving full power of attorney, the principal will need to initial the line that is in front of the phrase “All Preceding Subjects.” If not, then the principal will need to initial the line ahead of each type of power.

Power of attorney goes into effect immediately. If this is not something you want, then the form can be modified. First, you can either cross out or delete the seventh paragraph where it states this. Next, under the heading that says, “Effective Date,” replace “This power of attorney is effective immediately” with whenever you would like it to take effect.

It is a similar process if you are looking to establish a power of attorney for healthcare related needs and decisions. These forms can be found in the NC General Statutes, Chapter 32A, sections 32A-25.

The signature must be publicly notarized. If the principal is unable to sign, someone else is able to sign for them. But only if the other person is explicitly told to and they must sign “in the principal’s conscious presence.”

Revoking Power of Attorney:

You do not need a reason to revoke your power of attorney, but there are a few popular ones.

Change of relationships.
Death.
Incapacity.
Concerns about Availability.
You simply change your mind.

All of them are great reasons, but now that you have decided to revoke the power of attorney, how do you go about doing that? There are three ways you reverse your power of attorney, and they are a lot simpler than you may think.

In writing. NC General Assembly form §32C-1-110 is barely over a page long and lets you revoke power of attorney. In North Carolina, you can also verbally revoke power of attorney, though this is not advisable as it does not leave a paper trail.
Destroy it. If you have never given your power of attorney to anyone, you can simply destroy the document and it is like it was never there.
Sign a new power of attorney. You can sign the power of attorney over to someone else, just make sure it includes that all power to the previous agent is revoked.

It is always recommended to have a power of attorney before you need one. Craft Law Offices can help! Call 252-752-0297 or visit craftlawoffice.com to schedule your free consultation today. We can answer your questions about, and help you establish, a Power of Attorney for yourself or a family member.