It is recognized in common law and civil law systems. It could be a legal or a business matter. If you get a power of attorney for your own use, you could call yourself a principal, a granter, or a donor (of power). The other person to whom you are intentionally providing powers or authority is called the agent or the attorney-in-fact. One of the most important considerations in creating a power of attorney is how much power you must grant your attorney-in-fact or agent to protect your properties, finances, and interests from abuse. Since the courts do not regulate powers of attorney, the powers may be misused by an attorney-in-fact. It also depends on when you prefer to start appointing such power to your agent as well as when you want the power terminated. 1. General - This legal document allows the attorney-in-fact to act for the principal in almost every aspect of his or her life. It even authorizes the agent to gain access to the principal s safety deposit boxes or to handle all the properties of the principal. As a result, you can get the money necessary for paying your bills. Getting a POA is a better choice compared to having a conservator, which is a guardian assigned to you by the local probate court. Probate hearings usually take time to complete, not to mention that you are going to incur more expenses than you would with a POA. Medical hospitals will not honor the provisions stated in the living will. It can state the medical wishes of the person but it does not appoint anyone from making the decisions for them. For people with mental illness, they can prepare the Psychiatric Advance Directives or PADs, which grants the proxy to dictate psychiatric care for the patient as they cannot make the decisions for themselves with regards to their wellbeing. In California, notarization in the documents is important but this may not be the case in some states. This is why it is important to have knowledge on legal matters and employ legal assistance when making the document. A possible problem with the durable power of attorney is that the principal may not want the attorney-in-fact to take specific liberties.