durable power of attorney

A legal document written by a person giving another person, the executor, the right to make legal and financial decisions. If the writer of the durable power of attorney becomes incapacitated, the executor of the durable power of attorney begins to make decisions for the writer of the durable power of attorney. The durable power of attorney may narrowly define areas in which the executor has the ability to make decisions or it may broadly give away those rights. A durable power of attorney might cover buying or selling investments or assets. Another type of a durable power is a durable power of attorney for health care that authorizes someone to make decisions about health care, such as whether a person should remain on life-support equipment.