Assuming you have been to china and on coming back to your country you are set up for quarantine. Well, with the biggest sale of your life coming up in a week, you need to be there to sign the papers and convince the buyer that the property is worth his while. Remember that you also need to be there to sign the release form and negotiate on the prices.
Not knowing how you will feel when the date of the sale is due, you need to have someone to represent you, and this requires someone that is responsible and well-versed with the process of selling a house.
Since you don’t know what will happen then, you have your lawyer to prepare a durable POA telling your agent to handle the process and sign all the documents that are related to the sale of the business.
When you are in isolation due to a coronavirus scare, you won’t have the ability to make various decisions regarding your estate. While you might be able to send emails and communicate on your phone, you won’t be able to go to the bank to sign checks and other documents that need your physical presence.
You need to assign a Power Of Attorney (POA) – a document that allows other people to act on your behalf. Let us look at the different types of POAs and how they can asset you when you are under quarantine.
Durable POA
This gives the agent the right to act on your behalf even when you become disabled. When it isn’t durable, it becomes invalid in case of any disability.
You need to make it durable by indicating that the enforcement stays even if you become disabled.For any POA, you need to make sure it complies with the requirements of the state in which it is drafted.
General POA
Under this, you allow the agent to handle any matter that the state law permits. This is usually a long list of financial, legal and other matters.
In most cases, you will need to go from the general POA, but some of the situations won’t be ideal for use with the general POA.
Special POA
This is different from the general POA because it is limited to a certain extent in scope. This allows the agent to handle only a specific type of transaction or just a few transactions.
Don’t opt for this form of POA when you need general planning because you aren’t sure of what financial and legal issues you will face when you are in quarantine.
Business POA
If you operate of own a business and you are under quarantine, who is going to sign the checks and address any business matters that require your presence? Who will sign the payroll for your employees to make sure the business runs as expected when you aren’t there?
If you don’t plan for unforeseen problems in estate planning, your businesses will suffer. The remedy is to have durable POAs as part of your business processes. This is especially true if your business is structured as a sole proprietorship, whereby you make all the decisions of the business.
Assigning special powers to a colleague or a business advisor is a good way to protect your business.You can have several people handle different areas. For instance, you can give a special POA to a colleague to handle certain areas related to your business during the stay in isolation.
You might execute another POA giving your spouse the right to handle personal financial matters.
To make this work, it is vital that you consult your business estate planning attorney to make sure that proper precautions are in place at all times.
Springing POA
Coronavirus can go from mild to chronic very fast, and this is where the springing POA becomes applicable. As the name goes, this is the power that springs into use when you get disabled.
This means the agent only comes into play when you become disabled and you have need for their assistance. This is ideal when you are incapacitated in isolation and you don’t want to give the agent any authority till it is absolutely necessary.
The Lowdown
When you are in isolation, your business shouldn’t stop. You need to try and make sure you make the right decisions at all times. Work with your estate planning lawyer to come up with the right POA to suit your circumstances.
