Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is often used as an incapacity planning tool. However, it has many more immediate and practical uses. This document allows you to appoint someone as your attorney-in-fact, which allows them to step in and make decisions about your finances and property on your behalf. This document is essential even if spouses own property jointly because this document gives spouses the ability to transact for each other.

Minnesota law provides for two different types of Power of Attorney documents, a Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney (Minnesota Statute § 523.23), and a common law power of attorney document.

Minnesota Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney

A Minnesota statutory short form power of attorney cannot be altered. Thus, it must use the required form to be entitled the protections of the Statute. Powers that can be granted and assigned in a statutory short form power of attorney include the ability to act in the following situations:

real property transactions

tangible personal property transactions
bond, share, and commodity transactions
banking transactions
business operating transactions
insurance transactions
beneficiary transactions
gift transactions
fiduciary transactions
claims and litigation
family maintenance
benefits from military service
records, reports, and statements

Common Law Power of Attorney

If you are looking to tailor the powers for an attorney-in-fact, a “common law” power of attorney provides more flexibility. A common law power of attorney may grant authority with different specifications (those of which the statutory short form cannot offer) including: