There are a few actions that an agent is prohibited from doing even if the power of attorney states that the action is authorized. An agent, unless also a licensed member of The Florida Bar, may not practice law in Florida. An agent may not sign a document stating that the principal has knowledge of certain facts. For example, if the principal was a witness to a car accident, the agent may not sign an affidavit stating what the principal saw or heard. An agent may not vote in a public election on behalf of the principal. An agent may not create or revoke a will or codicil for the principal. If the principal was under contract to perform a personal service (i.e., to paint a portrait or provide care services), the agent is not authorized to do these things in the place of the principal. Likewise, if someone had appointed the principal to be trustee of a trust or if the court appointed the principal to be a guardian or conservator, the agent may not take over these responsibilities based solely on the authority of a power of attorney.
Related to the health care power of attorney is a separate document known as an advance health care directive, also called a "living will". A living will is a written statement of a person's health care and medical wishes but does not appoint another person to make health care decisions. Depending upon the jurisdiction, a health care power of attorney may or may not appear with an advance health care directive in a single, physical document. For example, the California legislature has adopted a standard power of attorney for health care and advance health care directive form that meets all of that state's legal wording requirements for a power of attorney and advance health care directive in a single document.[15] Compare this to New York State, which enacted a Health Care Proxy law that requires a separate document be prepared appointing one as your health care agent.[16]

·        I do not expect that my wife and my children will die before I do, but it is possible. If any grandchildren are under the age of 18, any assets will not go to them but rather to a guardian appointed by the Court until they are 18. The fact that my grandchildren might inherit from me but be underage means that my assets may be diverted into the hands of a random guardian appointed by the Court.


Criminal identity theft can create a myriad of headaches for the victim after the fact. Though a less common from of fraud, a thief could get caught for a traffic violation or a misdemeanor and sign the citation with your name. Then you get stuck paying those annoying fees and fines. If a thief uses your name when getting arrested for a crime, you could end up with a criminal record, which could affect your ability to get a job or buy/rent property. Another case is when the thief commits a crime using your identity, and then a warrant is issued for your arrest. But instead of looking for the criminal, they are looking for you—you could have a warrant out for your arrest and not even know it!

With a living will, you can make decisions to have or not have treatments to prolong your life. You are able to do this before you need them. You can choose to stop, limit, or not have certain medical treatments. Think about how you want to feel and how long you want to be able to live. For example, you may be willing to have some pain with a treatment if it allows you to live longer. You may want to refuse or stop treatments that prolong life, but cause you constant or severe pain. Some of your treatment choices include:
The Texas tax power of attorney form, also known as Form 86-113, allows another person to handle one’s tax filing. The powers granted to the tax representative permits them to perform a wide range of transactions on the behalf of the taxpayer. Such actions include providing information and discussing issues relating to an audit, receiving notices from the Comptroller, entering into written agreements, and providing…

A medical power of attorney is also known as a “health care proxy”— and this person acts as an agent to make medical decisions for you if you can’t talk to the doctors yourself. So instead of a piece of paper, you have a person you trust to speak on your behalf—acting in your best interests—while honoring your original wishes. So, you would need to have a conversation with them to make sure they know how you feel about important medical decisions.
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For a power of attorney to become a legally enforceable document, at a minimum it must be signed and dated by the principal.[7] Some jurisdictions also require that a power of attorney be witnessed, notarized, or both.[8] Even when not required, having the document reviewed and signed (and often stamped) by a notary public may increase the likelihood of withstanding a legal challenge.[9]

Short-term and long-term treatments: You may want short-term treatments when there is a good chance that you will get better. For example, you may want a feeding tube for a short time while you recover from surgery. You may not want a permanent feeding tube if you have a severe and long-term brain injury. You may want to have a limit on the amount of time you want to have other life-sustaining treatments.
Founded in 1946 as the Dallas Estate Council, incorporated in 1975 as the Dallas Estate Planning Council, we are a non-profit professional association. The primary mission of the Dallas Estate Planning Council is to provide our members with the latest tools and techniques in estate planning. Our programs generally qualify for continuing education credit for attorneys, CPAs, insurance agents, CFPs and in the CTFA trust management program of the American Bankers Association. The Council strives to foster understanding of the proper relationship between the functions of the disciplines and to encourage co-operation of persons acting under those disciplines. This web site will provide our members with new services and opportunities to share resources and information not only with our own members but also with other estate planning councils throughout the country.
You might also sign a durable power of attorney to prepare for the possibility that you may become mentally incompetent due to illness or injury. Specify in the power of attorney that it cannot go into effect until a doctor certifies you as mentally incompetent. You may name a specific doctor who you wish to determine your competency, or require that two licensed physicians agree on your mental state.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2010, 7% of US households experienced identity theft - up from 5.5% in 2005 when the figures were first assembled, but broadly flat since 2007.[64] In 2012, approximately 16.6 million persons, or 7% of all U.S. residents age 16 or older, reported being victims of one or more incidents of identity theft.[65]
While identity theft can happen to anyone, there are some things you can do to reduce your risk. If you think someone is using your personal information to open accounts, file taxes, or make purchases, visit IdentityTheft.gov to report and recover from identity theft. Looking for identity theft resources to share in your community? Visit ftc.gov/idtheft.
In their May 1998 testimony before the United States Senate, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discussed the sale of Social Security numbers and other personal identifiers by credit-raters and data miners. The FTC agreed to the industry's self-regulating principles restricting access to information on credit reports.[37] According to the industry, the restrictions vary according to the category of customer. Credit reporting agencies gather and disclose personal and credit information to a wide business client base.
There are several types of identity theft that are used to gather information, one of the most common types occurs when consumers make online purchases.[35] A study was conducted with 190 people to determine the relationship between the constructs of fear of financial losses and reputational damages.[35] The conclusions of this study revealed that identity theft was a positive correlation with reputable damages.[35] The relationship between perceived risk and online purchase intention were negative.[35] The significance of this study reveals that online companies are more aware of the potential harm that can be done to their consumers, therefore they are searching for ways to reduce the perceived risk of consumers and not lose out on business.
A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs, business, or some other legal matter. The person authorizing the other to act is the principal, grantor, or donor (of the power). The one authorized to act is the agent,[1] attorney, or in some common law jurisdictions, the attorney-in-fact.
Consider a Statutory Durable Power of Attorney. A Statutory Durable Power of Attorney or financial power of attorney typically allows your agent to make all financial decisions on your behalf. This gives your agent the power to enter into transactions and make decisions about your bank accounts, real estate, investment accounts, loans, and other debts. The power of the agent to make these decisions continues until a durable power of attorney is revoked or destroyed.[4]
• Report missing identification cards. Most criminal identity thieves get your information from stealing your personally identifiable information (PII) from physical cards like your driver’s license, Social Security card or Identification card. If you report a missing driver license, your state might flag your license number and in the event that another driver is pulled over by law enforcement and presents your license as their own they could be questioned for further information 

Florida Statutes: Chapter 709 of the Florida Statutes contains the full statutory law on powers of attorney. Chapter 765 deals with Health Care Surrogate Designation. Chapter 744 deals with guardianship law. Chapter 518 deals with investment of fiduciary funds. You may find a set of the Florida Statutes at your public library or at most courthouses. You may access the Florida Statutes at http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?
In Canada, Privacy Act (federal legislation) covers only federal government, agencies and crown corporations. Each province and territory has its own privacy law and privacy commissioners to limit the storage and use of personal data. For the private sector, the purpose of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ( 2000, c. 5 ) (known as PIPEDA) is to establish rules to govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information; except for the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia where provincial laws have been deemed substantially similar.

It can be difficult for the victim of a criminal identity theft to clear their record. The steps required to clear the victim's incorrect criminal record depend in which jurisdiction the crime occurred and whether the true identity of the criminal can be determined. The victim might need to locate the original arresting officers and prove their own identity by some reliable means such as fingerprinting or DNA testing, and may need to go to a court hearing to be cleared of the charges. Obtaining an expungement of court records may also be required. Authorities might permanently maintain the victim's name as an alias for the criminal's true identity in their criminal records databases. One problem that victims of criminal identity theft may encounter is that various data aggregators might still have the incorrect criminal records in their databases even after court and police records are corrected. Thus it is possible that a future background check will return the incorrect criminal records.[13] This is just one example of the kinds of impact that may continue to affect the victims of identity theft for some months or even years after the crime, aside from the psychological trauma that being 'cloned' typically engenders.
Synthetic identity theft is a type of fraud in which a criminal combines real (usually stolen) and fake information to create a new identity, which is used to open fraudulent accounts and make fraudulent purchases. Synthetic identity theft allows the criminal to steal money from any credit card companies or lenders who extend credit based on the fake identity.
The term attorney-in-fact is used in many jurisdictions instead of the term agent.[2] That term should be distinguished from the term attorney-at-law. In the United States, an attorney-at-law is a solicitor who is also licensed to be an advocate in a particular jurisdiction. An attorney-in-fact may be a layperson and is authorized to act pursuant to the powers granted by a power of attorney but may not engage in acts that would constitute the unauthorized practice of law.

A person who acts under a power of attorney is a fiduciary. A fiduciary is someone responsible for managing some or all of another person's affairs. The fiduciary must act prudently and in a way that is fair to the person whose affairs he or she is managing. Someone who violates those duties can face criminal charges or can be held liable in a civil lawsuit.
Notify your agent that you have signed a power of attorney. If your chosen agent is not present when you sign your power of attorney forms, you will need to notify them that you have signed a power of attorney granting them permission to take certain actions on your behalf. This gives the agent notice of their ability to make decisions for you in specific situations.

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