Property Planning: Revocation of Power of Attorney | Property planning with Christopher Yugo

Q: A few years ago I appointed my daughter to the power of attorney. She has since remarried and I worry that her husband will affect her. How can I withdraw the power of attorney without telling her? I don’t want to hurt their feelings.

ON: Yes; That is a difficult question. Unfortunately, there may not be a simple answer without hurting someone’s feelings.

First of all, I would like to clarify some of the languages ​​in your question. In fact, they do not appoint a Power of Attorney (POA). A POA is a document that you execute that enables someone to act on your behalf. The person you designate is in fact known as an attorney. I assume you can grant someone a POA, but you don’t appoint a POA.

Here is the problem you have. A revocation of a POA must be made in writing, identify the revoked POA and sign it by the client. Here’s the kicker: The revocation is only effective if the lawyer is actually informed of the revocation.

In my opinion, the best way to revoke a POA is to run a new one. Typically, most permanent powers of attorney contain a provision that states that the new POA will revoke previous POAs. When you run a new POA that revokes the previous one, you have a valid revocation that is in writing and signed by the client.

The clue is the hard part. If your daughter is indeed a properly appointed and acting attorney and you wish to remove her, you must notify her. If she has a copy of the POA and is currently trading under it, notification cannot be avoided. No termination, no revocation.