Legal-Ease: Power of attorney explained

Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney with Schroeder Law LLC in Ottawa. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at lee@leeschroeder.com or at (419) 523-5523. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.

For some, power of attorney can be confusing. The people normally named in powers of attorney are often not even lawyers. In powers of attorneys, there is a principal who grants to someone else the ability to act on his or her behalf. There is also an agent in each power of attorney, and the agent is the “attorney in fact” who acts on behalf of the principal.

What is a power of attorney, and why are the people named in powers of attorney usually not even lawyers?

Generally, a power of attorney allows one person to empower another person to act for the first person. Each power of attorney involves a principal, who grants to someone else the ability to act for him or her. There is also an agent, called the “attorney in fact,” who acts for (is agent for) the principal.

Read more about powers of attorney in Lee’s article in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Power of attorney explained

Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Power of attorney explained,” by Lee R. Schroeder, January 9, 2016

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