On July 1, 2024, the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA) went into effect in the State of Michigan. The UPOAA was created to encourage powers of attorney to be accepted both locally and across jurisdictions. The language used in the UPOAA was determined after review of other states and expanded the language contained in Michigan’s own power of attorney laws.
New key provisions of UPOAA include updates on the liability of the agent and protections for the people who make use of a power of attorney. This means that the person who executes the power of attorney has greater protections against an agent who may try to take advantage of the powers granted to them. The documents also provide more clarity on what the agent is allowed to do or not do when using the power of attorney on behalf of the principal.
The UPOAA does not invalidate any previously executed documents prior to July 1, 2024. However, if you have previously executed a durable power of attorney for finances and the document was not notarized and witnessed by two people, the document is no longer deemed durable.
Durability means the power will continue after the incapacity of the principal. In other words, when the principal becomes unable to make their own decisions, the power of attorney is no longer valid. This results in the need to appoint a conservator, which can be an expensive and time-consuming process.
Past clients of Martin L. Rogalski, PC do not need to worry about the validity of their priorly executed durable power of attorney. The practice of Martin L. Rogalski, PC, has always been to have any powers of attorney created by our office to be witnessed and notarized so all our previously executed documents are still deemed to be durable documents.
Martin L. Rogalski, PC has revamped our power of attorney documents to include the new UPOAA language in them to make the document an even more useful tool for clients. If you need a durable power of attorney or wish to bring your old documents into the new UPOAA generation, please call the office to schedule an appointment.
If you have any questions about what a durable power of attorney is and if you should have one, please see this blog post from our website: https://mrogalski.com/do-you-have-a-dpoa/ for a more in depth explanation.
