Anybody can be given the power of attorney, even people who are not lawyers, although most of those who are given such responsibilities are family lawyers of rich people or corporate lawyers of big corporations, whose job entails them to represent the CEOs or the big bosses, which are often required to be in three places at the same time, which is of course, not humanly possible. Over the Internet, you can find websites that specialize in legal forms. These sites may allow you to download their power-of-attorney forms. 2. Decide which type of POA you need. Your general options are the general and limited powers of attorney. The first type grants an attorney-in-fact an unlimited control over your finances or health care without a predetermined period. It is a document that summarizes and proves your agreement to give your appointed person (the agent or attorney-in-fact) the authority to act on your behalf. There are four main types of power of attorney that you could choose from. These types may be functional and useful depending on your need and requirements. This is very sensitive because the grantee will have the power to allow or disallow health care and will even be able to decide if hospitals will pull the plug in case the principal falls into a coma. There is also what they call the Psychiatric Advance Directives, which gives the grantee the right to decide for the care and treatment of someone who is mentally ill. This type of power of attorney would be valid unless specified by the document, the principal dies or revokes the document, or the document specifies that it would end upon the event when the principal gets incapacitated or disabled. Specific power of attorney If the attorney-in-fact is only granted authority over specific transactions like collecting debts, buying and selling property, then it is referred to as the specific power of attorney. In general, it is a legal requirement that you be in a competent and normal state of mind when getting a power or attorney or appointing a person to be your attorney-in-fact. However, it could be very hard to prove that you are not well when you do so. It would be safe to get that document even if you are in the pink of health or even if you do not foresee any event that would make you unable to handle your affairs.