A power of attorney allows the principal to appoint an agent to act on their behalf.
The New York Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney (PoA) has been revised and the amendments came into effect on 13th June 2021. Previously, the PoA must have been in the exact format prescribed by statute, but the amendments mean that you only need to substantially conform to the wording in the statute, which provides some flexibility to the document.
The agent that has been appointed must act within the powers granted or, where there are no instructions, in the best interest of the principal.
Requirements:
The information inserted into the power of attorney should be typed or printed and be legible, otherwise there is a chance that the document will be rejected.
The above-mentioned amendments require the PoA to be signed in front of two witnesses, whereas before, it only needed to be signed in front of the notary. It is useful to know that one of the witnesses can be the notary public. The witness cannot be the agent or a recipient of a gift mentioned in the PoA.
If the PoA is signed in England or Wales, it is usual for the power of attorney to be apostilled by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The notaries at Vanner Perez Notaries can assist with the notarisation and apostille process.
The agent must also sign the acknowledgment of appointment in front of a notary public, however, this is usually completed in New York where the agent is going to be acting.
Completing the power of attorney:
It is possible for the principal to appoint more than one agent. If more than one agent is appointed, they may act together unless the principal initials the statement to confirm that they can act separately.
The principal may also appoint a successor agent if the original agents are not able or are unwilling to act.
Section (f) of the statutory short form power of attorney contains the authority that the principal can grant to the agent. In order to grant specific authority to the agent, the principal must initial next to each authority. If you would like to grant several authorities, it is possible to type or print the letter of each authority on the blank line at (P) and initial bracket (P). You do not need to initial the other lines.
To find out more on how we can assist with the notarisation and apostille of your documents for use in New York, United States of America, please do give us a call on 020 3668 6626 or email info@vpnotaries.co.uk