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Louisiana Power of Attorney

A Louisiana Power of Attorney (PoA) is a legal document that grants a trusted person or entity the authority to handle financial matters on your behalf, such as accessing your bank account(s), signing contracts, and selling your property.

The individual granting control is called the "principal," and the person or organization receiving powers is known as the "agent" or "attorney-in-fact." Designed for residents of Louisiana, this Power of Attorney is made for use in Orleans Parish County, East Baton Rouge Parish County, Jefferson Parish County, and in every other county or municipality throughout the state. All Louisiana PoA forms from Rocket Lawyer can be edited for your unique scenario. Making this official document will provide confirmation to financial institutions and other parties that your representative(s) can act in your interest when you are not present or able.

It's fast and easy to assign or receive the support you might need using a free Louisiana Power of Attorney template from Rocket Lawyer:

1. Make your PoA - Provide a few details and we will do the rest
2. Send and share - Discuss the PoA with your agent(s) or ask a legal question
3. Sign it and make it legal - Optional or not, witnesses/notarization are a best practice

This route, in most cases, would end up being much less time-consuming than hiring the average lawyer. If necessary, you may prepare a PoA on behalf of an elderly parent, a spouse, or another family member, and then help that person sign when ready. Please remember that for a Power of Attorney to be considered valid, the principal must be mentally competent at the time of signing. If the principal has already been declared incompetent, a conservatorship could be required. When facing such a situation, it's important to connect with a lawyer.

Everyone over 18 years old should have a Power of Attorney. Although it's painful to acknowledge, a day may come when you cannot deal with your day-to-day affairs by yourself. There may also be moments when you are merely out of pocket. Common circumstances where a PoA may be useful include:

• You have plans to move or travel overseas
• You are aging or dealing with ongoing health issues or limited mobility
• You are preparing to move out of your home and into a care facility
• You wish to grant a trusted person power to deal with specific legal or financial issues in your absence or if you are not well

Regardless of whether this Louisiana Power of Attorney has been produced in response to an unexpected issue or as part of a forward-looking plan, witnesses and/or notarization can often help to protect your document if someone disputes its lawfulness.

Power of Attorney documents can be classified in a few different ways. They are largely dependent on what powers are being granted, when they come into effect, and how long they will remain valid. Most often, you'll find them described in the four groups below:

• Special Power of Attorney - Will grant limited powers over specific matters
• General Power of Attorney - Will grant broad powers over your affairs
• Springing Power of Attorney - Will come into effect based on certain criteria
• Durable Power of Attorney - Will remain valid even when you become incapacitated

When producing your free Louisiana Power of Attorney with Rocket Lawyer, you may elect to have the power begin immediately, on a precise date, or only at the time when you are no longer capable. The Power of Attorney can terminate when you die or on a particular date.

Louisiana Power of Attorney forms are normally straightforward; however, you or your agent may still have legal questions. Hiring a legal professional to check your Power of Attorney may take a long time if you attempt to do it by yourself. An alternate approach to consider is to request help from the Rocket Lawyer On Call^® attorney network. Premium members are able to request a document review from an experienced attorney or get answers to other legal questions. As always, you can live confidently with Rocket Lawyer by your side.

The cost of working with a law firm to generate a Power of Attorney might be anywhere from two hundred to five hundred dollars, depending on your location. Rocket Lawyer offers much more than most other Power of Attorney template providers that you might find. As a Rocket Lawyer member, you can get up to a 40% discount when hiring an attorney.

With a Premium membership, you may make edits, download it in PDF format or as a Word document, and print it. When you are ready to finish up your Power of Attorney, it needs to be signed. Your agent(s) and financial institutions should get copies of your fully executed document.

The specifications and restrictions governing PoA forms will be different by state; however, in Louisiana, if the agent will handle matters related to your minor children, then notarization and two witnesses will be required. If your agent(s) will have the ability to handle real estate transactions, the Power of Attorney must be signed before a notary public and recorded or filed with your county. Finally, as a general principle, your witness(es) must not be under 18 years old, and no witness should also be designated as your PoA agent.

See Louisiana Power of Attorney law: CC 2994