Since the power of attorney would provide the agent the control over banking, credit and other financial issues, it is important to be made carefully which is why legal assistance is importance. There are two kinds of power of attorney, the specific and the general. The specific power of attorney identifies particular transaction when the document would take effect. It grants the agent the right to decide on what to do with the principal s remains after his or her death, as well as donate the organs for educational, scientific, or transplant purposes. What if I have not appointed someone as an agent to oversee of my health care, you might ask. If nobody has powers of attorney to act on your behalf and you are already unconscious or mentally incapable, the courts will assign someone to make health care decisions for you. Entrusting all your assets and personal affairs as a principal is like entrusting your life to your attorney-in-fact. Your agent s decisions regarding your estate will have a direct impact on you, considering the broad freedom granted by general powers of attorney. The agent will decide, for example, where your money and investments will go as well as the kind of nursing home where you will stay. A separate document is needed as stated by the Health Care Proxy Law by the State of New York, appointing your health care agent so to speak. Medical hospitals will not honor the provisions stated in the living will. It can state the medical wishes of the person but it does not appoint anyone from making the decisions for them. The authority to manage another person s affairs may begin immediately or only when the principal can no longer make decisions on his or her own. The latter scenario happens when the principal is out of the country for a while or when he or she becomes mentally incapacitated. Granting someone a legal authority to decide on your behalf does not necessarily mean you cannot make decisions for your own anymore. This often happens when the principal or the grantor (the one who is authorizing another person to act in their stead) is unavailable or not present when the deal comes through. This is very common among executives of corporations especially those in the higher ups, who need to take care of business in all parts of the globe.