Home
New State Power-of-Attorney Law in Effect
Effective July 1, the Virginia General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed, the new Uniform Power of Attorney Act governing the appointment of agents acting under powers of attorney. The act is modeled after the Uniform Power of Attorney Act developed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
The VRS Durable Power of Attorney (VRS-901) 
43kb has been updated to reflect the provisions of the new act, which include the following:
- The act clarifies that a power of attorney is assumed to be durable (that is, still able to be used when the person creating the power of attorney becomes incapacitated), unless stated otherwise.
- Before July 1, 2010, incarcerated felons were considered incapacitated and, therefore, required to appoint an agent under a power of attorney to take actions on their behalf. Effective July 1, 2010, they are no longer considered incapacitated for that purpose. They can appoint an agent but are not required to do so.
- The new act clarifies the duties of agents acting under powers of attorney. In particular, it states that certain duties, such as naming or changing a beneficiary, are prohibited from being performed unless expressly authorized by those who appoint them.
Any actions by agents acting under powers of attorney that occurred before July 1, 2010 may remain in place under the new act. All future actions come under the new act.
What does this mean for employees?
Encourage your employees with VRS-901s on file to review the updated version and decide if they would like to update their power of attorney. The new form allows employees to be more specific about the VRS matters their power of attorney can handle. They also can select more than one agent to act on their behalf if the primary agent is unable to do so.
