What a Power of Attorney Can and Cannot Do

Your brother has power of attorney for Mom. He moved money between her accounts last week and did not tell anyone. Your sister wants to know if she can stop him. He wants to know if he is even allowed to ask the bank. Nobody has read the document.

🗂️ The Four Types of Power of Attorney, and What Each One Switches On

A power of attorney (POA) is a document in which one person, the principal, gives another person, the agent, authority to act for them. The agent is sometimes called an attorney-in-fact. No law degree is involved. What the agent can do depends on which type was signed.

Medical decisions are a separate document in most states, called a healthcare power of attorney or healthcare proxy. Our guide to advance directives, living wills and powers of attorney sorts out which one covers what.

✅ What an Agent Can Do: Anything the Document Grants, and Only for the Principal’s Benefit

A durable financial POA usually lets the agent handle the ordinary business of a life. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sums up the agent’s job in four duties: act in the principal’s best interest, manage money and property carefully, keep it separate from your own, and keep good records.

Signing is its own small skill. The agent signs the principal’s name, then their own, then the capacity: “Mary Smith, by John Smith, her agent” or “as POA.” Signing only your own name can make you personally liable for the contract.

🚫 What an Agent Cannot Do: Change a Will, Act After Death, or Help Themselves

These limits hold in every state, no matter how broad the document reads. The question “can a power of attorney change a will” has a one-word answer, and it is no.

Medical choices sit outside a financial POA too. The agent on a financial document cannot consent to surgery or decline treatment. That takes the healthcare document, and the first-24-hours hospital checklist covers having it ready.

🛑 Who Can Override a Power of Attorney: The Principal First, Then a Judge

“Who can override a power of attorney” is the most searched question on this topic, usually typed by a sibling who suspects another sibling. The answer runs in this order.

1. The principal, at any time, while competent. Revoking is done in writing, with notice to the agent and to every bank or institution that has a copy. A new POA should state that it revokes earlier ones.
2. The agent, by resigning. Agents can step down in writing. The successor named in the document takes over.
3. A co-agent, if the document created one. Some POAs name two agents who must act jointly. One can refuse to sign, which stops the other.
4. A court, on petition. A family member, Adult Protective Services or another interested party can ask a judge to review the agent’s conduct, demand an accounting, remove the agent and, if needed, appoint a guardian or conservator. Evidence matters: statements, transfers, dates.
5. A guardian or conservator, once appointed. In most states the court-appointed guardian’s authority supersedes the agent’s, and the court can revoke the POA outright.

What a worried relative cannot do is simply declare the POA void. Banks follow the document until the principal revokes it or a court order says otherwise. If the principal can no longer make decisions, the court route is the only one left, and it is slow and public. Having the conversation early is cheaper. The guide to talking to parents about end-of-life planning is a good place to start it.

⏳ When a Power of Attorney Ends: Death, Revocation, and Sometimes Divorce

“Does power of attorney end at death” and “does it cease on death” are the same question, and the answer is yes, always, in every state. These are the other endings.

Because death ends the POA, the agent’s records should not end with it. The executor will want the account list, the bills in progress and the receipts. Keeping them in one place while the principal is alive is the reason families organize a parent’s affairs before a crisis, and the guide to taking over a parent’s accounts and passwords walks through that handoff.

✍️ Most States Want a Notary, and Several Want Witnesses Too

“Does a power of attorney have to be notarized” depends on the state, but the practical answer is to notarize every time. States that follow the Uniform Power of Attorney Act treat a notarized signature as presumed genuine, and banks and title companies routinely refuse documents without a notary stamp even where the law does not require one.

Some states add witnesses on top. New York requires a notary and two witnesses for a statutory POA. California accepts a notary or two adult witnesses. Several states require both for a POA that covers real estate. A document that was valid where it was signed is generally honored in another state, but local institutions may ask for their own form.

🔐 Where the Document Should Live So the Right Person Can Find It

Most POA disputes are not legal problems. They are information problems. One sibling has the document, the others have questions, and the bank has a photocopy nobody can locate at 4:55 on a Friday.

CareTabs puts the signed POA, the healthcare proxy and the advance directive in the Legal tab for each person you look after. The agent and the successor agent can both see it, read-only or admin as you choose, and the Documents tab holds the statements the agent is supposed to be keeping. When the question “what exactly does the document say” comes up, the answer is one tap away instead of a search through a filing cabinet.

If you are the agent for a parent who has just died, the what to do when someone dies checklist picks up where the POA stops.