Military Power Of Attorney

A proxy is a legal document. You can use it to give someone the authority to act for you. You're the principal. It is your agent. A person who acts for you is also known as "attorney-in-fact."

Two types of proxies are the general power of representation and of the special.

A special power is used to give another person authority to do one thing.

An attorney general is not limited to a specific purpose. If you want someone to be able to act on your behalf when you're out of the country then the general is what you need.

Now, let's say you go to Afghanistan on active service. You want your wife to do anything when you're gone.

Here is how a general power to that end might look like:

General Power

I, Andy Rasmussen, do give my wife, Jesica Rasmussen, a general power to perform any action on my behalf and to sign my name to all documents necessary to carry out such actions until I return home.
Signature and date

A notary seal is not mandatory but if you leave the country for military service, you can dress up a bit and include a section notary. Then sign the power just before a notary if your wife has no problems with it while you're gone.

Now say you care for your invalid mother. She is not mentally incompetent ... yet. But she does want you to take care of his business and pay his bills. A general power is what is required. Here's how it might look like.

General Power

I, Sally Smith, do give my daughter Louisa Lewis, a general power to manage all of my business to include personal, business and others.
Signature and date

Once again, given the circumstances, it would be preferable to have a notary section on it and take it notarized.

Durable Power of Attorney

Say Louisa in the example above is concerned about his mother becomes mentally incapable. In this case, Louisa may go to court to get the right to manage the affairs of his mother.

What's engaging in a "durable power of attorney." It is still a general power, but in this case, we will make it sustainable to continue even if the mother is mentally handicapped. Here's how it might look like:

I, Sally Smith, do give my daughter Louisa Lewis, a general power to manage all of my business to include personal, business and others. This proxy shall continue and survive, even if I become disabled if the mentally handicapped or physically disabled.
Signature and date

For sure you want to have it notarized and it would be better if you had written by or approved by at least one lawyer who works primarily in estate planning.

It is common to see very full (10-20 pages) Sustainable attorney general. The reasoning behind these comprehensive documents, is that some financial institutions are very reluctant to rely on a wide range, sweeping statements that the principal has any authority granted to their agent to do what they would be able to do so.

Some institutions or individuals who are dealing with an agent want to see a very specific language that relates to the actual transaction they make on behalf of the grantor. This just raises the comfort level of some people when an agent.

In addition, in some states, there is no penalty for not honoring a proxy. If someone chooses not to deal with an agent because they have their doubts about the power there is no pen.