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.
General powers of attorney typically are regarding finances, and a principal gives powers to an agent. In each power of attorney, one or more specific people are named as the agents. It can be incredibly difficult for people to decide upon who should be their agent, especially when adult children are involved. Hard feelings can certainly come up, and often principals try to identify their agents while keeping this potential friction in mind.
In a general power of attorney, a principal (the person granting decision-making abilities) gives powers to an agent. General powers of attorney usually regard finances and are almost always a document separate from a healthcare power of attorney, which deals with healthcare decisions.
One or more specific people are named in each power of attorney as the “agents” or the “attorneys-in-fact.”
Read more about choosing agents and executors in Lee’s article in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Who should I name as my agent or executor?
Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Who should I name as my agent or executor?” by Lee R. Schroeder, March 19, 2016