Activating Your Durable Power of Attorney

ACTIVATING YOUR DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY

Since you have drawn a Durable Power of Attorney with our office we wanted to alert you as to a disturbing trend we have been seeing. The Massachusetts Durable Power of Attorney Act, under which  most likely your Power of Attorney was drawn, specifically states that your Power of Attorney shall continue to be effective even if you become disabled or incapacitated. There is no time limit imposed on the validity of a Durable Power of Attorney under Massachusetts law.

Unfortunately, some banks and brokerage companies have decided to set their own more restrictive rules. They will not honor a Durable Power of Attorney unless it has been activated at their institution within 2 years of signing.  By activating, they mean the original Durable Power of Attorney has to be brought to the bank or brokerage company and certain paperwork has been filled out.

We recommend that you check with your bank and/or brokerage company as to their policy. We highly recommend that you do this in the near future so that you and your family do not run into problems at a time when you really need to use the Power of Attorney.

If there are any questions we can answer or any other way we can help, please let us know.

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