July 20, 2017|Uncategorized

Governor Cooper Signs North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act

July 20, 2017 – The North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act is effective on January 1, 2018. Senate Bill 569, “An Act to Adopt the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in this State,” was ratified by the House and Senate of the North Carolina General Assembly and presented to the Governor on June 29, 2017. On July 20, 2017, Governor Cooper signed Senate Bill 569 (2017-2018) into law as Session Law 2017-153.

Janice L. Davies is the Chair of the sub-committee for the Legislative Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section on the North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act. The North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act is the result of many hours of review and discussion of North Carolina law on powers of attorney and revision of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act to retain, change, or update North Carolina law. Before its filing at the North Carolina General Assembly, the proposed draft bill was reviewed and commented on by many interested persons and groups from various disciplines with varied perspectives and interests.

The North Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act establishes a comprehensive legal framework for the creation and use of powers of attorney and furnishes specific guidance to and protections for principals, clarity for agents, and certainty for third parties asked to accept a power of attorney. A major purpose of the Act is to enhance the effectiveness of the power of attorney. Effectiveness is particularly important because the aging population is large and growing rapidly, and the older people are disproportionately vulnerable to incapacitating conditions. Another major purpose of the Act is to prevent, identify, and redress the abuse or misuse of a power of attorney by an agent. The abuse or misuse of powers of attorney has been recognized as a serious problem. The Act intends to strike a balance by preserving the durable power of attorney as a private form of surrogate decision making while deterring use of the durable power of attorney as a tool for financial abuse of an incapacitated principal.