Illinois Power of Attorney
An Illinois power of attorney is simply a way of granting certain powers to someone you have chosen and whom you trust. These powers can be very specific or they can be very broad, depending on the type used. Your specific needs are going to determine which Illinois power of attorney you use and when it becomes effective.
A special power of attorney can be used when someone is selling a vehicle for you, this would be called a vehicle power of attorney. Another type of special power of attorney would be one you might give a caretaker for your children, possibly for emergency medical treatment. A property power of attorney would be used if you wanted another person to close a real estate deal for you in your absence. Special powers of attorney may also be called a limited power of attorney or a specific power of attorney.
General powers of attorney give the person you choose broad powers for running practically all aspects of your life. If you were leaving the country for an extended period of time you might want to leave a trusted family member behind with one of these. That person could not only handle any emergencies that might come up, they could also open mail, make deposits, pay bills and many other things that might need taken care of.
If you have been working with an Illinois estate planning attorney you may already be familiar with durable powers of attorney. These are the little documents you hope you never need, but could be life saving if you ever did. Durable power of attorneys take effect only when a doctor pronounces you mentally incapacitated, unable to make decisions for yourself. A durable medical power of attorney would give your agent immediate authority over all of your medical care. A durable financial power of attorney would have the same effect over pretty much the rest of your affairs. Your bills would get paid, taxes filed and so on.
When filling out your Illinois power of attorney forms the term agent will apply to the person you have chosen to give these powers to. Another thing to keep in mind, if you name your spouse as your agent, your power of attorney becomes automatically void in the case of a divorce.
Power of attorney forms can be prepared by your lawyer or they can be found at Legal Zoom and prepared yourself. Most of these forms are simple enough you should not have a problem doing them on your own. The non-durable forms are the least critical if you were to get something wrong, the durable ones you may want to have looked over by a lawyer.
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