What does “durable” mean in referring to powers of attorney?
Much like the word “plenary” in guardianships (addressed in a prior column), the meaning of the word “durable” as applied to powers of attorney causes some confusion. Powers of attorney have been around for a long while. In fact, they are founded in old English common law from five centuries ago. Originally they were largely used for property transfers, later they became a tool in both real estate and business transactions. For reasons which will become clear in a moment, they were not used in health care decisions. In recent years, the “common law” concept of powers of attorney has been incorporated into statutory law, and in that process, in most places and specifically in Illinois, have become “durable” powers of attorney. So what is a “durable” power of attorney? To answer that question properly, it must be noted that the term “power of attorney” can refer to three things. First, “power of attorney” is often used to refer to the “agent” operating pursuant to a power of attorney. Th
