On the process of drafting the power-of-attorney document, you will have to discuss all the terms in it, and it is important that the agent won t be too much of a headache for you. Amount of control How much authority are you willing to grant to your agent in terms of decision-making and performing your tasks on your behalf? There are four main types of power of attorney that you could choose from. These types may be functional and useful depending on your need and requirements. They are: general, special, healthcare, and durable power of attorney. A general power of attorney is a document that gives your agent a broad authority in handling your affairs. Health care powers of attorney refer to legal documents that designate someone to make financial decisions for your estate should you become disabled, in which case you cannot make decisions on your own. Once you become mentally disabled, your agent gains responsibility of handling all your finances. Powers of attorney are also intended to avoid certain situations that may cause the court to choose a conservator or a guardian to act on everything on your behalf. When the court does that, you won t have any say as to who it will appoint as your guardian it may be one of your family members or someone else. H/she could be a relative, a daughter or son and even a trusted friend. When picking out an agent, make sure that the person would stand by the principal s beliefs since they would act on behalf of the person. Aside from that, the attorney-in-fact would have to keep sufficient and detailed records since the principal should have a copy of transactions made in h/her behalf. General powers of attorney provide more authority to an attorney-in-fact than the limited type. Because the control granted to an agent is limitless, the general type has a wider scope than the other one. This means that the agent enjoys the same amount of privileges and access to the assets of the principal.