Virginia Code 64.2-1607: When power of attorney effective.
A. A power of attorney is effective when executed unless the principal provides in the power of attorney that it becomes effective at a future date or upon the occurrence of a future event or contingency.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 64.2-1607
- Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Personal representative: includes the executor under a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 64.2-100
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
B. If a power of attorney becomes effective upon the occurrence of a future event or contingency, the principal, in the power of attorney, may authorize one or more persons to determine in a writing or other record that the event or contingency has occurred.
C. If a power of attorney becomes effective upon the principal’s incapacity and the principal has not authorized a person to determine whether the principal is incapacitated, or the person authorized is unable or unwilling to make the determination, the power of attorney becomes effective upon a determination in a writing or other record by (i) the principal’s attending physician and a second physician or licensed clinical psychologist after personal examination of the principal that the principal is incapacitated within the meaning of subdivision 1 of the definition of incapacity in § 64.2-1600 or (ii) an attorney-at-law, a judge, or an appropriate governmental official that the principal is incapacitated within the meaning of subdivision 1 of the definition of incapacity in § 64.2-1600.
D. A person authorized by the principal in the power of attorney to determine that the principal is incapacitated may act as the principal’s personal representative pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, §§ 1171 through 1179 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1320d, as amended, and applicable regulations, to obtain access to the principal’s health care information and communicate with the principal’s health care provider.