Obtaining a general power of attorney starts with knowing the “power” you wish to grant your agent (attorney-in-fact). Because this is a “General” power of attorney, the principal needs to carefully read through the general power of attorney form and initialize in the blank underline to the left of the paragraph explaining the power. There are 16 powers to choose from; if you do not see the power you need, initialize next to “Other” and manually describe the power you wish to give to the agent.

Finding an agent is the next step which is the person who will act on the powers that you give. This person should be well trusted, coherent, and very reliable. Depending on the powers that you give, this person has the potential to cause great damage to your life if they don’t carry out the powers correctly. For extra precaution, it’s also possible to list two agents on your power of attorney. The added benefit to having two agents; if one dies or is unavailable when needed, the other can act on your behalf.

Now that you have both the powers you want to give and the agent who will execute them for you, you can proceed to fill out your general power of attorney form. When finished, it’s mandatory that both the agent and principal sign the document while also having 2 witnesses. Note: Witnesses can’t be family-related. A notary public’s signature is also recommended. Give copies of the document to your agent and those who need to be informed and keep the original in a safe place.