Durable Power of Attorney

[dorisamy]

in 1991 my husband and i both executed wills, living wills, and durable powers of attorney with an attorney here in florida, which is our permanent residence. we have been told that the florida legislature changed the requirements for durable poa's in 1995 and that ours would now be invalid. is this true and do we now have to remake the poa's to be sure they are correct? dorisamy

 

[ALawyer]

I do not know Florida law, but a stale power of attorney always poses problems. Some states have laws that state powers of attorney lapse after X years.

Yours is 10 years old and the last thing you want, if and when you or your spouse should need to exercise the power, is to have someone disregard it, either because they think it is "too old" or because it in fact is too old. Prepare a new one! Even if it is valid, you do not want to have to go to court to have to force someone to honor it!