Free Illinois Power of Attorney (POA) Form

Before starting an Illinois Power of Attorney it is critical to know what type of POA to create. There are many different varieties of these legal instruments and each grants different kinds of powers from a Principal to an Agent or Attorney-in-Fact. 

The most common variants include the following examples: 

• Durable: Durable Power of Attorney documents are invaluable tools for individuals planning how their estate will be managed in their old age, or in the event of sudden illness or disability. They allow the Agent to act for the Principal even if they become incapacitated.

• General: A General Power of Attorney form permits an Attorney-in-Fact to perform a number of financial and legal tasks for their Principal. General POAs can operate over a long period of time, although they can sometimes cease to be effective if the appointing authority becomes incapacitated.

• Limited: A Limited Power of Attorney allows a Principal to grant time-limited powers to an Agent. This is usually to allow the Agent to complete a one-off task such as signing a contract.

• Medical: Medical Power of Attorney is a durable form of POA that allows a Principal to appoint a person to make medical decisions for them if they become incapacitated

• Real Estate: Real Estate POAs are specially tailored documents that let Principals grant powers to an Agent for the purposes of managing real estate.

• Minor Child Power of Attorney: This variety of Power of Attorney allows a Principal to appoint an Agent to take on their legal parental rights for a limited period of time. This could be for work reasons, deployment in the military, or due to an illness.

An Illinois Power of Attorney can be filled-in fully online with LawDistrict’s step-by-step form completion survey. All you need to do is answer the questions and add in your own information to create a fully complete POA tailored to your necessities.  

Alternatively, the task of creating a POA can be left to a lawyer. However, this is usually a more time consuming and costly process.

In order to make sure your POA is fully valid upon completion and signing, you must make sure that you follow the right steps to prepare your Illinois Power of Attorney document before successfully putting it into action. 

To do this you will need to meet the following criteria:

1. Make sure all the details on the form are correct such as names, addresses, dates, and the powers that are to be granted.

2. The completed form should be signed by both the Agent and Principal.

3. It is essential that the signing of the document is viewed by at least one witness who must also sign the form.

4. A notary public must also be present at the signing to notarize the document, and must sign it too. 

In addition to these steps, it is crucial that all the signing parties are legally able to enter into this agreement. This means that they must:

• Be over 18 years of age.

• Be mentally competent enough to enter into a contractual agreement.

• Understand the powers that are being granted.

Lastly, the Agent must be a legal adult or a financial institution with trust powers, a registered place of business within the state and that has the authority to carry out trust business in Illinois. They should also be someone that the Principal has full confidence in.

Creating and putting a Power of Attorney into action in Illinois is a major commitment. It can help to explore an example template first to get a clear idea of what information should be found in your completed document. Our sample Illinois Power of Attorney below can help you understand the details included in this legal arrangement a little better.