The Principal (also called the grantor) is the person who needs an agent to act on his/her behalf in dealing with legal, financial, and/or health care issues that ultimately involve signing documents, checks, and so forth.
The grantor grants power to the Attorney in Fact via the Power of Attorney document; the Attorney in Fact (also known as the agent or grantee) may then make decisions and sign on behalf of the grantor.

The Attorney in Fact (also called the agent or grantee) is the person designated in the Power of Attorney to act solely on behalf of the principal, avoiding any conflict of interest or personal considerations. The Attorney in Fact acts as a fiduciary, someone who can take care of money for the principal and whose judgment, advice, and assistance can be relied upon. If the fiduciary is, for example, the guardian of an estate, he or she must file a fiduciary bond with the probate court or judge. The Attorney in Fact may transact purchases and sales and financial affairs, and execute agreements.

An Attorney involved may be a family Attorney who drafted the Power of Attorney or one who represents the principal in other matters; by contrast, the Attorney in Fact is often a family member, and not an Attorney who represents the principal for a fee. All rights granted to the Attorney in Fact are set forth and may be limited at the beginning by the grantor; thus, the necessity of having a good Attorney draw up the Power of Attorney. The Attorney may be involved in creating legal remedies or documents that the Attorney in Fact will execute. There may also be an Attorney representing whatever entity (e.g, a bank) the Attorney in Fact works with on behalf of the principal.

The Notary may be involved in notarizing a Power of Attorney at a hospital signing. In this case, the notary may need to question the grantor sufficiently so that he or she is certain the grantor is doing this of his or her own free will and understands the nature of the powers granted to the Attorney in Fact (also known as an “agent”), and the notary is advised to record any observations in the notary journal. As a notary signing agent, the notary must also ID an Attorney in Fact who acts on behalf of the borrower at a signing. In such a case, be advised that the notary’s job is to identify the signer, not to verify his or her capacity.

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