Self-help templates
General Power of Attorney (Financial and Administrative Affairs)
For letting someone you trust run your everyday money and paperwork while you are away or unwell: bank accounts, bills, taxes, post, spending limits, records and when it ends.
Card payment through Stripe. Your files are ready straight after payment and are also sent by e-mail.
Licence: this document is for your personal use only. You may not resell, share, copy or republish it, or use its content, without the written permission of TheLawToKnow.
How to use it
- When: you want someone you trust to manage your everyday financial and administrative affairs while you are abroad, ill or otherwise unable to attend to them: bank accounts, bills, tax papers, post and dealings with authorities.
- Who signs: the person giving the power (the principal). The agent usually also signs to accept.
- Fill in everything in [square brackets] and cross out options that do not apply. Narrow the power wherever you can: the wider it is, the more you depend on the agent's honesty.
- Choose the agent with great care. An agent can move your money and sign in your name. Consider naming a second person to check the accounts, and setting a limit on any single payment.
- Form matters: a general power often has to be notarised, and a bank or authority may insist on its own form. If you will use it abroad, ask about an apostille or consular legalisation and a translation.
- Tip: give the agent a certified copy, keep the original safe, and note the end date. Tell the bank in advance so the document is accepted when it is needed.
What is inside
- Art. 1. The principal
- Art. 2. The agent
- Art. 3. Powers granted
- Art. 4. Acts the agent may not carry out
- Art. 5. Limits on money
- Art. 6. Substitution
- Art. 7. Duration, revocation and loss of capacity
- Art. 8. Records and accounting
- Art. 9. Costs and remuneration
- Art. 10. Form, language and governing law
- Art. 11. Declaration
- Notes on the clauses and a checklist of what to check under your country's law
What these templates are not
- They are self-help templates, not legal advice, and they do not replace a lawyer.
- Laws differ from country to country, and some rules cannot be changed by contract. Each template ends with a checklist of what to check where you live.
- For a high-value or unusual situation, ask a local lawyer or notary to look at the final text.
TheLawToKnow Tools. Self-help template. Not legal advice. Check the law currently in force. Written with the help of AI tools and reviewed by a lawyer-author.