Limited Power of Attorney Form

A limited power of attorney is a document allowing one specified person (an agent) to act on an errand of the other person (the principal), who usually launches the document’s creation. The document is duration-limited and will expire after a particular date specified in the form or after the principal decides to stop the validity. In such terms, a limited power of attorney is a one-time pattern. Although the specifications of the POA range from state to state (including signature legislation), the main aim of the document in the whole US is to temporarily endow the attorney-in-fact with power regarding some kind of action.

In different states, the same form may also be notified as LPOA or Special power of attorney.

Primary Participants

The principal - a person who wishes to give some extent of empowerment to the confidant.

The agent (attorney-in-fact, proxy) - a person assigned to some specified power regarding some actions.

Reasons to Assign a Limited Power of Attorney

The most frequent cases in which one may need to set the form are selling or buying property or real estate, signing documents, managing deals, making transactions, etc. If the principal knows they will or can be unavailable to do these matters, the best is to find a trustworthy person and employ a limited power of attorney.

However, note that if the expiry conditions are not specified, the agent will be able to continue acting on behalf of the principal even without the latter knowing.

How to Develop an LPOA

1. Specifying the Rights and the Agent

First of all, the principal should remember that the limited power of attorney does not include the actions regarding their medical matter. Thus, the agent can be related to the property, budget, and some other deals. In the case of a limited form, one can be confident of the attorney’s actions because the document specifies the exact rights and responsibilities of the representative.

The law provides some requirements about the agents so that it can be:

2. Filling and Signing the Form

As mentioned before, each state has its own specifications for the form completion, so use your dwelling place’s legislation to succeed with the assignment. Although the procedure of completing the form is easy and requires filling in the information in several fields, the step-by-step instruction is provided below. As the majority of the power of attorney documents, LPOA signing requires the presence of a witness(es), or/and notary, both agent and principal. The more precise procedure depends on o the state of signing.

3. Delegating the Authority

The chosen agent(s) must receive a copy of the original document for the form to come into effect after the signature. The essential point is that the attorney-in-fact has to demonstrate the form to the state servants when completing the action specified in the LPOA. If buying the estate on behalf of the principal, it means that the agent needs to show the copy to the seller before confirmation of the deal.

How to Fill in the LPOA

The extended instruction on how to fill in the limited power of attorney (with a sample) is provided below:

  1. Provide the principal’s and agent’s personal information. The LPOA includes the principal’s name and eight-digit SSN, the agent’s name, home address, and phone number.
  2. Specify provided rights. On the following five lines, the principal can list five actions desired to provide. If more actions are needed, the principal may use a special attachment (specify its application in the fifth line), where more space is given.
  3. Define the validity range. Specification of the time range given to the agent to act on behalf of the principal can be made by leaving a signature near the desired method of cancellation. There are three boxes with various types of revocation available, and the principal can choose up to three of them.
  4. Sign from both sides. The principal needs to indicate the state and date of signing, followed by the signature and printed name. The agent has to confirm the terms of the agreement by writing their printed name, signature, and full printed name.
  5. Examine the witness(es) (filled according to the state legislation). If there is a need to engage the witnesses, the principal should employ up to two to check the form signature. The witnesses have to provide their signature, printed name, and home address.
  6. If the state legislation requires to notarize the form, or if the principal wants to engage public notary to strengthen the validity of the LPOA, one should only find a suitable organization, where the officials will fill in the needed part of the form.

Now, let us clarify a few more points concerning the Limited Power of Attorney form.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the LPOA cease to operate?

If the principal defines the exact date of the expiration, this date (particular day of the year) is considered the last day of validity of a contract. Such information can be provided in the LPOA form near one of the options of the agreement revocation.

How to specify the length of the power?

Since the LPOA is a temporary document, the principal specifies the conditions of its expiration. In one of the cases, one may decide to write the date of the end of the deal; in another case, they can only tick the box in the LPOA and then write a revocation form. However, there is a term by which the document can only be valid for no longer than one year from the signing day if the principal did not specify the expiration date and the agent did not imply the given power.

Otherwise, if specified, the form can last for years. There is also an opportunity to choose the end of the performance of the assigned duties as the ending day of the form.

What are the terms of notarization?

All the specifications of the notarizing process are included in the state legislation, so one should follow the laws of the dwelling place. If one needs to employ the form in another state than where it was signed, the notary will ensure the legitimacy of the action.