The Power of Attorney Has Blanks Nobody Reads: Check the Agent, the Start Line, and Where the Original Lives

This is a plain reading of what to check, not legal advice. For the document itself, a Missouri-licensed attorney should review it. What follows is the list of questions to bring so that the appointment is short and the answers are written down.

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Who is named, and who is the backup

Read the agent's name, spelled exactly as it appears on Mom's ID. Look for a second name for the case where the first person cannot act or cannot be reached. If there is no backup, that is a gap to bring to the attorney, not something to fill in yourself on a blank line.

When it starts

Some documents take effect the day they are signed. Others wait for a condition written into the text. Find the sentence that says which kind yours is. Ask the attorney to explain it in plain words, and write the answer on the front page so the next person can read it without you.

One paper or two

Money matters are often handled in one document, and decisions about health care may sit in a separate one. Ask which you have. A paper that covers one area does not cover the other, and the institutions on the other end will ask for the specific form they need.

Which offices will accept it

Call the bank, the pharmacy, and the doctor's office and ask what form they require. Note the name of the person who answered and any reference number they give you. Compare what they say with what the attorney told you. If the two do not match, that is the first thing to fix.

Where the original lives

Keep the signed original somewhere the family can reach in a hurry, and give a copy to the named agent. Make a short list of who holds which copy. An original locked in a drawer nobody can open is not a plan, and it costs the daughter who ends up making the calls.

What to bring to the attorney

Bring the existing document, a list of Mom's accounts and the institutions she uses, and these questions: Is this document durable? When does it start? Who is the backup? Do we need a second document? What would you change? Keep the answers in one place where the whole family can read them.

For the public references this desk leans on, see Sources.