A power of attorney is a written legal authorization by which one person (trustee), business, or the financial institution (agent) grants the right to another person (attorney, representative, proxy) to perform on behalf of the principal any lawful actions (most often to complete a transaction or a series of transactions) in the state of New York.

You can choose whatever NYS Power of Attorney form you need; according to your specific case, they differ by the powers it’s needed to be transferred.

Types of POA forms in New York

1. New York General/Financial Power of Attorney

A general power of attorney is issued to manage and dispose of all property owned by an agent, to represent his interests, manage his funds and perform various kinds of actions, regardless of the form of ownership.

2. New York Durable Power of Attorney

With a Durable POA, the agent can act on behalf of the person when he becomes incapacitated. Thus, it’s valid throughout the entire time until the document is canceled or the applicant dies.

3. New York Limited (Special) Power of Attorney

This POA is basically similar to the General type of Power of Attorney. But in this case, you can transfer the rights to perform only a few duties and thereby limit the range of permissions that your agent can perform.

4. New York Medical Power of Attorney (Health Care Proxy)

With the help of a New York health care proxy, the principal can indicate the methods of operation in case of serious disease and/or disability.

5. New York Springing Power of Attorney

This type of Power of Attorney takes effect only when this or that action described in the document occurs, that is, in the future.

How to make a POA in New York

A power of attorney is always a written document. In New York, there are special forms where there are necessary parts to fill out. Thanks to these elements, it is not difficult to build a full POA in New York state. Moreover, the principal can indicate several agents. But it will be needed to clarify whether they will work together or independently.

The principal has the right to revoke the Power of Attorney at any time, and the representative has the right to refuse it. In this case, the person who draws up the document is obliged to notify the representative (agent) and third parties about its cancellation.

Power of Attorney Terms in NY

New York is one of the few states where a Power of Attorney is issued for a long time. But if you want to limit the duration of your POA, you just need to indicate this time right in the document.

To be completely official and licensed, the Power of Attorney form should contain:

• Notarized and dated signature of a capable principal;
• Notarized and dated signature of an agent or agents;
• The officially approved language in which the form is executed.

If a principal or agent, due to a physical handicap, cannot sign themself, they resort to the services of a batter. Concerning legal entities, the presence of a seal is also required.

Also, by the state law, there is a single font standard, so in New York, any Power of Attorney must be printed only if there are legible words and clear letters at least 12 points in size or if you are writing by hand, it’s written alternative.

New York Durable Power of Attorney Form

Sometimes it happens, that a person is not capable of making any decisions or becomes physically disabled because of trauma or a serious disease (Section 5-1511 of the New York state laws). That’s when the Durable POA (also it’s called DPA) is most often used to help that person with their assets.

So, what you want to do is to delegate the ability to make decisions for you to a trusted person via DPA document, the ones you have employed particularly for this purpose (moreover, your family members can act as a trusted person as well).

But if you want to point out medical treatment ways, you need to build another form and choose a special physician. The NY Durable Power of Attorney is applied only in terms of material goods and properties for the time you’ll be physically unable to control your belongings yourself.

It’s called “durable” because it lasts as long as you alive. But despite this fact, you still can revoke it by using specific cancellation statements. To revoke a simply written Power of Attorney, it’s enough to submit a special report made in the same manner. To cancel a notarized DPA, you need a paper, which is verified by a notary public. Terms of how to make it properly are often represented in almost every US state’s law. Sometimes you may need two witnesses to sign the revocation paper.

Signing rules in New York

If you look through the local state laws of New York concerning the DPA creation, you’ll see that the government require to notarize the document and a witness to sign it (section 5-1513 of General Obligations).

The DPA template in the state of New York looks very similar to the ones in other states of America, but in this particular state, the applicants are allowed to indicate the extra charges in an “Optional rider” section. The Durable Power of Attorney usually consists of six pages that include all of the duty alternatives (taxes, banking transactions. etc.).

Any capable adult citizen, as well as an officially registered company, can be a trustee or official representative. Although it is not necessary to disclose the powers of the representative (agent) in detail, it’s highly recommended to (first read all the available clauses of the proposed responsibilities). This can save your assets from future litigation, just as it’s necessary to treat the choice of the trustee, especially if you delegate the administration of your great-valued property.

How to fill out the DPA form in New York

Here is a comprehensive guideline on how to build a legal Durable Power of Attorney form properly:

1. Download the template

You can find an official DPA template on our website and start to draw it up.

2. Get familiarized with a forewarning note

Before filling out this document, please read all the details given in this paper’s caution part, and only then start building it. Make sure that all the points are clear to you.

3. Enter the Agent’s information

In this field, first, enter your full legal name and then the name of the Agent in the appropriate fields of the form. If you indicate your name once and then the names of two agents, it means that they will perform duties together. If you want them to work separately from each other, individually, please write your name above each Agent’s one.

4. Name the Successor Agent

In this part, you can attach the personal information about additional (successor) Agents who will work if the main ones from above cannot perform duties. As well as in the case of the previous part, you can specify two different successor Agents.

5. Indicate the duties for Successor Agent

If you have any conditions for your successor(s), write them down in this part of the DPA.

6. Point out the Agent’s duties

Give the official representative specific instructions, or vice versa, limit the agent to the set of things he can do. Mark an “O” point if you want to pick every duty presented and put your initials on the left and “P” to select individual elements or insert the initials to each of them.

7. Record extra details (optional)

Under the duties part, you can give additional instructions and modifications for your Agent or leave this field blank if there are none.

8. Complete the appendix (optional)

If you choose to complete the New York DPA Supplement, “Statutory Gifts Rider,” please include your initials here.

9. Designate a Witness (optional)

If you want to assign a witness (monitor) to all actions of your Agent, indicate his or her personal data in these lines, so the observer can check all of the Agent’s actions.

10. Mark the Agent’s profits

State if there will be any profits to your Agent. To describe the terms, use a “Modification” section.

11. Sign the form

Date and sign the DPA form here.

12. Notarize the DPA

The Durable Power of Attorney must be signed and stamped by a notary public (if applicable), right under your signature.

13. Pass the DPA to the Agent(s)

Let the Agent(s) read the following text. After he, she, or they have read and accepted all of the information presented, they should put the signature in the relevant spaces.

14. Let the notary public and successor Agent(s) sign the DPA

After regular Agents, a notary public must sign the DPA again, as well as the successor Agent(s) (if there’s one), and then the notary will sign it a third time.

15. Fill out the Gifts Rider (optional)

This additional paper is optional for filling out, but if you choose to complete it, keep in mind that this part needs to be notarized and have the signatures of two independent witnesses as well.

New York Medical Power of Attorney (POA) Form

A New York Health Care Proxy (NY Medical POA or NY State Health Care POA) is necessary for those people who want to be represented by their chosen representatives in different organizations so that the trusted agents are competent to choose medical treatment and other arrangements.

It’s a legal report that is used when medical evidence shows that you are unable to make decisions for yourself (Article 29-C of the Consolidated Laws of New York’s Public Health Law (PHB §2980-2994)).

Life is unpredictable, and a situation may arise when you need a representative in a particular medical institution. That is, if it’s impossible to carry out any official actions or even everyday tasks yourself, you’ll have the opportunity to have an official representative who will represent your interests at the legislative level.

And if you want to have a plan for your death occasion, look at other documents such as Living Will (for when you’ll need a certain medical treatment that you want to describe and be sure it gets implemented the way you want it to) and NY Power of Attorney (to choose a trusted individual to manage your assets for as long as you stated).

Creating the New York Health Care Proxy form

Confirm that your Health Care Proxy follows the rules set out in PHB §2980-2994 first.

1. Look for an Agent(s)

A New York residents have the legal right to issue a Medical Power of Attorney to a person(s) of their choice (both a relative and another adult individual who can competently act in his interests).

In this Power of Attorney, there is a list of civil rights (including the rights of the applicant) that may be determined, which the specified authorized person(s) will operate on behalf of the principal. Also, the agent(s) must understand your preferences in medical treatment, including those that are not described in the POA.

However, your doctor or any hospital employee for whom you are assigned cannot be a trusted person, nor can you choose a person who is already a trusted one for more than ten people, except if it’s your family member (PHB § 2981).

2. Describe the conditions

If there are any things that you wouldn’t want your Agent(s) to do on your behalf, please describe them in this part of the New York Health Care Proxy.

If you agree with all the conditions and give full freedom of action to the Agent(s), then be prepared that he or she will be able to make decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment, mental health treatment, and organ and tissue donation.

New York state laws require each Agent to experience special sessions with professional physicians to better understand the topics and types of different treatments. If your trusted ones don’t know how to act in a particular situation, they should perform as you would like the most. Moreover, your Agent(s) can’t make a decision for you that is contrary to your values or has nothing to do with your health (PHB § 2982).

The agent has the right to start making a decision on your behalf only after the doctor concludes that you are no longer capable of making decisions related to your medication on your own. And if it happened due to your mental state, the physician should first consult a specialist (PHB § 2983).

3. Sign and date the form

When signing the NY Health Care Proxy, two independent adult witnesses, aside from Agent(s), must be present (they can also sign the paper for you if you are no longer able to do it yourself). Such a Power of Attorney doesn’t have a specific period of validity until you indicate the expiring date in the record.

NY Health Care Proxy cancellation

You can cancel the Medical Power of Attorney at any time, but only if the court does not state that you are too incapacitated to make such decisions.

If your representative was a spouse, this paper is canceled automatically immediately after the divorce. Else, to revoke the New York State Health Care POA, you must:

• Notify your Agent and/or doctor that you want to revoke the arrangement;
• Create another arrangement with different conditions from the previous one;
• Create a revocation paper and sign it; give a copy to your representative or the treating doctor.