New legislation governing Powers of Attorney recently passed the NYS Assembly & Senate and was signed by the Governor on December 15, 2020. As you may recall, a Power of Attorney is a legal document where you appoint an agent to act on your behalf. It is a powerful tool that can spring into action upon your disability or be effective immediately and should only be entrusted to a person or persons who you can trust will appropriately exercise discretion and act in your best interests, especially when you may not be able to adequately fight for yourself.
The new Power of Attorney law will become effective on June 13, 2021. Some of the important changes to note are as follows:
“SUBSTANTIALLY CONFORMS TO THE WORDING” REPLACES “EXACT WORDING”
- The wording of the Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney no longer needs to be exactly written as it is written in the statute.
STATUTORY GIFTS RIDER ELIMINATED
- The additional document that used to be required to be executed simultaneously with a Power of Attorney is no longer needed. Powers of Attorney should now address gift-giving powers, if desired, in the actual Power of Attorney document
SIGNING REQUIREMENTS
- A likely to be signed Chapter Amendment will now require two witnesses for all Powers of Attorney (one of which may be the notary public). Previously no witnesses were required.
ACCEPTANCE OF AND RELIANCE TIMELINE
- There is now a process in place with time limits for banks and other entities to provide a written explanation if they are to reject a Power of Attorney for any reason
DAMAGES AND ATTORNEY FEES
- The new law now allows you to seek damages and attorney fees incurred to require someone to accept a Power of Attorney who unreasonably refuses to do so.
Parisi, Coan & Saccocio, PLLC remains dedicated to protecting your rights and pursuing the best legal outcome for your situation. During the continued Covid-19 crisis, our team continues to advise clients and can manage most trust and estate issues and communications via phone, email, and video conferencing. To speak with an attorney about creating a Power of Attorney or how this new legislation affects you, contact us at (914) 228-7448 or via our website at www.pcslawnyc.com.