By Matthew M. Young, Attorney
Any credit union accepting powers of attorney (POA) should know that a POA ceases upon the death of the principal. A lesser known fact relates to durable powers of attorney; the durable POA survives incapacity (i.e., an individual unable to manage their business/property affairs due to, most commonly, cognition issues). In the recent past, in order for a POA to be durable, specific language had to be included within the document referencing that fact, specifically stating that the POA survives incapacity. With amendments to the Uniform Power of Attorney statute, changes to which were adopted in Ohio in 2012, all powers of attorney are presumed to be durable, unless otherwise stated that it is terminated by incapacity of the principal. Therefore, you no longer have to search for durability language; however, you do need to make sure the POA does not expressly reference that it is terminated by incapacity.
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