Less than half of adults have a Power of Attorney. If you are a business owner, especially if you are the only business owner, this could put your business in a crisis if something should happen to you and prevent you from participating in business activities for a period of time. Even businesses that “run themselves” can’t actually run without the leader in power or someone authorized to act in his or her place.

If you have employees, they could go unpaid if no one is authorized to sign paychecks or call in the hours to the payroll company. Other business activities can also come to a grinding halt, causing a temporary or permanent closure of the business that provides your source of income.

If you are worried about trust, there are some things you can put in place:

• You can have a “springing” power of attorney that only comes into effect upon stated conditions where you are physically unable to act on behalf of yourself and your business.
• You can have limitations in the power of Attorney that only allow the agent to handle stated things and not others.
• You can name a monitor to oversee the transactions, such as the business’ attorney or accountant.
• You can name co-agents that have to act together.

It is also important to be sure that the agents know where the document is if they need to use it, and the important information necessary to run the day to day business operations. This includes account numbers, passwords and user IDs and contact information for key people the agent may need to contact in the event of an emergency (business lawyer and accountant, for example).

Getting a Power of Attorney is simple and affordable. Take a few hours and protect everything you have worked for, your family, and your employees.