What is a durable power of attorney? Many people have heard about the powers of attorneys and thought that they were necessary, though they don't exactly understand the extent of what they do. The best way to answer this is to ask the question, what would happen if something happened to you? If you could no longer care for yourself, how would your bills get paid? Would you be able to get the medical care you need? A power of attorney solves many of these problems. It designates somebody to act on your behalf. Before you are unable to make decisions, you will assign a person and create a power of attorney with an attorney's help.

The Types of POA

What many people don't know is that there is more than one type of power of attorney. You can designate more than one person as a power of attorney. Though, it's far more common to choose one individual acting as your power of attorney for both things.

Medical 

A medical power of attorney will make the hard decisions about the medical care you may need if you can no longer care for yourself. This can include long-term medical care at a nursing home or make an end of life decision should you be coming capacitated. A medical POA should be someone rather close to you, and essentially you would trust with your life. You should always ask the person before electing them as your POA and discuss your wishes in detail to have a firm understanding.

Financial

Even if you're incapacitated, you will still have bills that need to get paid. This can include your housing, electricity, homeowners insurance, life insurance, etc. A financial power of attorney will oversee your accounts and pay the things that need to get paid. It's essential that when you choose somebody to act as your financial power of attorney that you have complete trust in them.

Can You Just Nominate Someone?