New York State Bar Association wants simpler power of attorney document

New York State Bar Association officials want lawmakers to simplify the form used to designate a power of attorney.

The form, used by to enable someone else to handle their financial and legal affairs when they are unable, “is far too complex, expensive and inconvenient,” Bar Association President Claire P. Gutekunst said in a news release.

The complicated form leads to “potential pitfalls, which may not become clear until the ill or incapacitated family member needs the help a power of attorney provides,” she said in the release.

As an example of the law’s complexity, in some cases, power of attorney documents sometimes exceed the length of wills they draft for the same clients.

The Bar Association has prepared a series of videos about the importance of reforming the power of attorney law, which the Legislature revised in 2009 and 2010.

The State Bar Association’s legislative proposal would improve the current law by:

• Simplifying the form
• Preventing  banks, investment firms and other third parties from improperly refusing to recognize a consumer’s valid power of attorney
• Authorizing use of language in the form that is substantially the same as the language in the statute, in order to prevent the harsh consequence of the form being invalidated because of a minor, typographical or other harmless error.

The recommendations were developed by the Bar Association’s Working Group on the Power of Attorney. Their report is available here.