Having More Than One Person as Attorney (POA)

Yes, more than one person can be named as attorney for property or attorney for personal care.

Power of Attorney Designations:

Sole Power of Attorney (Sole POAs):

It is possible to name one attorney under the POA document. However, there will be a decision-making vacuum if that solely-named attorney dies, loses capacity, or is not available when the need for a decision arises. A person making a POA should at a minimum appoint one other person as their attorney.

Priority or Alternate Powers of Attorney:

A person may have a couple of people in mind for the role of attorney. It often works well if the person appoints their first choice as their attorney, and their second choice as the alternate attorney.

For example, a person may appoint their spouse, but if their spouse cannot act or cannot continue to act, then their child may act as the alternate attorney. It is also common to have a second alternate. For example, “I appoint my Spouse, failing which Child 1, failing which Child 2.”

Joint Powers of Attorney (Joint POAs):

The person may wish to appoint two or more people to act jointly. “Jointly” means that the attorneys must agree on every decision.

In theory, this can work where the attorneys are aligned in the decisions they must make. In practice, though, it is rare for two people to completely agree on anything, and even more rare for three or more people to completely agree. This makes a joint appointment logistically difficult.

Read more about > Joint POAs

Joint and Several POAs

One practical solution to the problem of joint attorneys is naming attorneys “jointly and severally”. This means either (or any) named attorney can act.

If only one is available when the need for a decision arises, he or she can act. If at another time a different attorney is available when the need for a decision arises, he or she can act then.

Read more about > Joint & Several POAs

Keywords: backup power of attorney, shared power of attorney