Video: Signing the New Georgia Power of Attorney Form

Hi, I’m Sarah Siedentopf of The Law Offices of Sarah Siedentopf.

We do concierge estate planning in Atlanta, Georgia. The concierge part means that we make it as easy as possible for busy people to do their estate planning. If you listened to my last video, you heard me talk about the new power of attorney law in Georgia. It came into effect on July 1st, 2017. You may also have heard me say that there is a form in the law, which means that the law actually has the power of attorney already written out for you. Now, attorneys are making their own changes to it. But what do you need to know if you want to do your own? The biggest thing that you need to know about doing your own power of attorney under the new law are the signing requirements. In order to have a valid power of attorney under the new law, the principal (who is the person making the power of attorney) must have their witnesses and their notary all in the room together. Everyone must watch everyone else sign. Technically, it’s only necessary to have the principal, and one witness, and the notary. However, if your power of attorney is going to deal with real estate transactions, you will need two witnesses and a notary. So that is four people in the room, which, I do recommend always getting two witnesses and a notary. That’s just a best practice. But all four people need to be in the room, at the same time, watching each other sign. If anything other than that happens, the power of attorney is not valid. And, people are already getting ready to start challenging power of attorney in court, based on whether or not they were properly signed. So, I always recommend talking to an attorney, but if you’re going to do it yourself, make sure that you do the signing properly. Thank you for listening, and please look for me next time.

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