Submitted by CarlTom on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 08:32
I'm my dad's attorney in fact under his power of attorney. I'm in an awkward position because I have a brother who is not happy that I have this position instead of him. We're not talking about a lot of money or power here, but it's more that my brother and I just don't get along. Long story short, I want to make sure that when I do things, like signing a check for my dad I do according to the letter of the law so I don't give my brother any ammunition for his crazy vendetta or create any liability on my part. How should I do that? I mean how should I sign my name?
Attorney in fact signature
Even if you did not have issues with your brother, you are wise to consider how and under what circumstances you exercise your duties under you dad's power of attorney. (I'll assume you know the limits of those powers and have read the document carefully to inform your actions.)
To answer your question, whenever you sign for your dad, you want to do it in a way that makes it obvious to the world that you are not acting on your own behalf, but rather on behalf of your dad. If you sign in a way that creates ambiguity about your role, a court could later hold you personally responsible or liable for what you sign. So, for example, in a contract situation, the other party to the contract might argue that she thought you were signing for yourself and that, accordingly, you must perform under the contract. To avoid that type of problem, you can sign as follows: "John Doe, by Jim Doe as his Attorney in Fact." You could also sign: "John Doe, by Jim Doe as his Power of Attorney." Hope that helps.