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The purpose of this section is to introduce Powers of Attorney.

Upon completion of this section, you will be able to describe:

(1)   What is a Power of Attorney

(2)   Force of a certified copy of a Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney

A power of attorney or letter of attorney in common law systems or mandate in civil law systems is an authorization to act on someone else's behalf in a legal or business matter. The person authorizing the other to act is the "principal" or "grantor (of the power)," and the one authorized to act is the "agent" or "attorney-in-fact." The attorney-in-fact acts "in the principal's name," signing the principal's name to documents and filing suit with the principal's name as plaintiff, for example. As one kind of agent, an attorney-in-fact is a fiduciary for the principal, so the law requires an attorney-in-fact to be completely honest with and loyal to the principal in their dealings with each other. If the attorney-in-fact is being paid to act for the principal, the contract is a separate matter from the power of attorney itself, so if that contract is in writing, it is a separate document, kept private between them, whereas the power of attorney is intended to be shown to various other people.

Certified Copy of Power Of attorney
 

A certified copy of a power of attorney that has been certified by a notary public has the same force and effect as the original power of attorney.  (Probate Code Section 4307).  That is to say that once a notary public notarizes a copy of a power of attorney, the notarized copy of the power of attorney has the same effect as the original.

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