As an agent, an attorney-in-fact is a fiduciary
for the principal, so the law requires an
attorney-in-fact to be completely honest with
and loyal to the principal in their dealings
with each other. If the attorney-in-fact is
being paid to act for the principal, the
contract is usually separate from the power of
attorney itself, so if that contract is in
writing, it is a separate document, kept private
between them, whereas the power of attorney is
intended to be shown to various other people.
In the context of the unincorporated reciprocal
inter-insurance exchange URIE the
attorney-in-fact is a stakeholder/trustee who
takes custody of the subscriber funds placed on
deposit with him, and then uses those funds to
pay insurance claims. When all the claims are
paid, the attorney-in-fact then returns the
leftover funds to the subscribers.
The term attorney-in-fact should not
be confused with the term attorney at law.
An attorney-at-law in the United States is a
lawyer—someone licensed to practice law in a
particular jurisdiction. In most other
common-law jurisdictions lawyers are not called
attorneys, and in those jurisdictions the term
"attorney" generally refers to either
attorneys-in-fact or lawyers from the United
States.
A power of attorney may be
verbal and whether witnessed or
not will hold up in court same
as if in writing; example: If
the owner of a property wants to
sell property on their own, but
do not feel comfortable enough
to "talk" with a potential
person of interest, they can ask
or appoint a person of their
choosing to handle the
negotiations for them as long as
they seek an Attorney to handle
the actual contract. However,
such as asking someone else to
sign your name on a check
because your arm is broken—or
may be in writing (and if you're
wondering what this sentence
means, you're not the only one).
For some purposes, the law
requires a power of attorney to
be in writing. Many
institutions, such as hospitals,
banks and, in the United States,
the Internal Revenue Service,
require a power of attorney to
be in writing before they will
honor it, and they usually want
to keep an original for their
records.
