The West Virginia Statutory Form Power of Attorney is the kind of POA that is often used in estate planning.  Unfortunately, sometimes financial harm to seniors giving authority to agents under these POA’s results because their agent(s) use their authority under the POA improperly.  This POA is also known simply as a Power of Attorney (e.g.., that's the designation used by the State Bar from the link above), a General Power of Attorney, a Financial Power of Attorney, or a Durable Power of Attorney because it remains in force even after you might become mentally incapacitated and unable to make decisions for yourself.  These POA's are subject to the provisions of the West Virginia Uniform Power of Attorney Act. PLEASE BEWARE that, unless in the “Special Instructions” you expressly indicate that your agent has no authority under your POA unless you are mentally incapacitated, this West Virginia Statutory Form POA takes effect immediately.  Please be smart and do not execute a financial POA simply because you think having agent with such powers would be “convenient” for you as there may be safer alternatives to a financial POA, and please, choose your agent wisely!  Please also note that this West Virginia Statutory Form POA cannot be used by you to appoint an agent to make medical or healthcare decisions for you.  To appoint an agent to make medical or healthcare decisions for you, you would use either a State of West Virginia Medical Power of Attorney or a Combined Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will in accordance with the West Virginia Healthcare Decisions Act.  All POA"s must be signed by you before a notary public, and for the Medical POA or a Combined Medical POA and Living Will, two independent witnesses to your signing must also sign the POA before the notary. 

 

Please also understand that a POA is a legal document, and no POA an adult might execute will be legally valid if the adult did not have sufficient mental capacity to be legally competent when they signed the POA.  For someone else to have authority to make decisions for an adult who is not legally competent to make personal and/or financial decisions for themselves, that person must be appointed by the circuit court having jurisdiction as the guardian and/or conservator for the incompetent adult.  Circuit court adult guardianship/conservatorship proceedings are governed by the West Virginia Guardianship and Conservatorship Act, forms for those circuit court proceedings can be accessed by clicking here or can be obtained from the circuit court clerk, and more information about the duties and responsibilities of being a court-appointed guardian and/or conservator can be found in the West Virginia Guardianship and Conservatorship Training Manual.