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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 556.402

  • Agent: means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney, whether denominated an agent, attorney-in-fact, or otherwise. See Michigan Laws 556.202
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Michigan Laws 556.202
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Good faith: means honesty in fact. See Michigan Laws 556.202
  • Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
  • power: means a power of attorney. See Michigan Laws 556.202
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Power of attorney: means a written record that grants authority to an agent to act in 1 or more matters on behalf of the principal, whether or not the term power of attorney is used. See Michigan Laws 556.202
  • Principal: means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney. See Michigan Laws 556.202
  • Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, or legal or equitable, or any interest or right in such a thing. See Michigan Laws 556.202
    The following optional template may be used by a nominated agent under a durable power of attorney to provide the acknowledgment required by section 113(2):

AGENT’S ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I, _______________________, have been appointed agent for _______________________ (Your Name), the principal _______________________ (Name of Principal), under a durable power of attorney dated ________________. By signing this document, I acknowledge that if and when I act as agent under the power, all of the following apply:
MY DUTIES AS AGENT
I must:
1. Do what I know the principal reasonably expects me to do with the principal’s property or, if I do not know the principal’s expectations, act in the principal’s best interest.
2. Act in good faith.
3. Do nothing beyond the authority granted in the durable power of attorney.
4. Keep reasonable records of receipts, disbursements, and transactions I make on behalf of the principal.
5. Disclose my identity as an agent whenever I act for the principal by writing or printing the principal’s name and signing my own name as “agent”.
6. And depending on the terms of the power of attorney, I may have additional duties described in section 114 of the uniform power of attorney act, MCL 556.201 to 556.505, including the presumptive duties to act loyally for the principal’s benefit, avoid conflicts of interest that would make it hard for me to act in the principal’s best interest, and act with care, competence, and diligence.
POWERS REQUIRING SPECIFIC AUTHORITY
Unless specifically provided in the durable power of attorney or by judicial order, I cannot do any of the following:
1. Create, amend, revoke, or terminate an inter vivos trust.
2. Make a gift of the principal’s property to someone else, let alone to myself.
3. Create or change rights of survivorship by, for example, creating a joint account.
4. Create or change a beneficiary designation.
5. Delegate authority granted under the durable power of attorney.
6. Exercise fiduciary powers that the principal has authority to delegate.
7. Waive the principal’s right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a survivor benefit under a retirement plan.
8. Exercise authority over the content of electronic communications, as defined in 18 USC 2510, sent or received by the principal.
9. Exercise authority over any bank, securities, or other financial account in a foreign country within the meaning of 31 C.F.R. § 1010.350.
TERMINATION OF MY AUTHORITY
I must stop acting on behalf of the principal if I learn of any event that terminates the durable power of attorney or my authority under the power, including the death of the principal or the principal’s revocation of either the power or my authority to act under it.
MY POTENTIAL LIABILITY AS AGENT
If I violate the uniform power of attorney act, MCL 556.201 to 556.505, or act outside the authority granted in the durable power, I may be liable to the principal or the principal’s successors for damages caused by my violation and to civil or criminal penalties. An exoneration clause in the power (if any) does not relieve me of liability for acts or omissions committed in bad faith or, in some cases, for acts or omissions committed with reckless indifference to the purposes of the power of attorney or the interests of the principal.
Signature:______________________ Date:___________________________
If there is anything about this document or your duties that you do not understand, you should seek legal advice.
    

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