**This question is 2 fold.
Just wondering, about the legalities of writing a power of attorney. If I were sitting in a cafe eating breakfast with my wife. A car slides on some black ice and right into me. I’m alive but just barely. Can I write a power of attorney on a napkin to my wife?
Is there a way to get a power of attorney done without the assistance of an attorney? An Online document I could download perhaps and get notarized?
What state are you in?
Connecticut.
I’m not a licensed attorney in your state. I found this through a little Internet searching and haven’t read the cases interpreting it. That said:
This appears to be a decent simple power of attorney form:
http://www.finance.cch.com/tools/downloads/connpoa(short).rtf
CCH is a reliable legal publisher.
It is approved by this statute: http://search.cga.state.ct.us/surs/chap007.htm#Sec1-43.htm
I see no reason you couldn’t use similar language on a napkin. Although, it might need to be recordable for some purposes, and there are legal requirements about your competence and state of mind, so your near death might complicate matters.
More on CT powers of attorney here: http://www.ctelderlaw.org/power_attorn.asp
Also, this isn’t a medical power of attorney, is that what you wanted? Here’s some stuff on that: http://estate.findlaw.com/estate-planning/living-wills/estate-planning-law-state-living-wills.html
Thanks a bunch. Yes you answered my question.
As a general rule, lay people can write out many of their own legal documents. There are books, web sites, and software with samples and instructions. The idea behind much of this is to make it look offical and help it stand up in court. However, some types don’t have to be anything formal at all. Lots of people have written their wiill on scrap paper and stuck it in a safe for example. The problem with that is that there is a chance that the courts wouldn’t honor it because it might be a fake or an old revision etc. It would still work a lot of the time however.